


Of loyalty and affection

by SuperEllen



Series: Chronicles of a Sith holocron [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Almost every TFA character will die because I’m evil, Angst, Dark, Dirty thoughts (no NSFW), Emperor Hux, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enforcer Kylo Ren, Hux Kylo and Leia POV, Hux doesn’t value human life, Hux is a genius with the strongest mind, Hux thinks the Force is just a lot of mystical crap, Kylo Ren has a lot of issues, Kylo thinks of Hux as “the bastard”, M/M, Several chopped-up corpses, Sith holocron mystery, Slow Burn, Snoke is a Sith, They totally hate each other until they don’t, Too much introspection, Violence, post-TFA, some torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 10:16:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 50,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7044268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperEllen/pseuds/SuperEllen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a plot to become the Emperor of the galaxy, Hux decided to manipulate Kylo Ren into killing Snoke for him. What he hadn’t planned, by the way, was how things would change between the two of them. He’d never considered that Ren might fall for him, nor that he might start to care about his new ally.<br/>As if things weren’t complicated enough, a Sith holocron would create some mystery, and some not-so-smart decisions from Leia Organa would certainly make everything worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of loyalty and affection

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language, so if you see any mistakes I apologize in advance... Please let me know about any mistakes so that I can correct them.
> 
> Art for this story was made by [kurama2212](http://kurama2212.tumblr.com/)

General Hux had always prided himself of being a very ambitious man. He’d been raised by a ruthless and unloving father who only saw his son as an extension of himself. The man had forced him to be excellent since Hux was just a child, and because of that he grew up trying to please the man. But in his late teens, after developing the ability to think for himself, Hux was already sick and tired of his father. He hated the way the old man was trying to control him. He was well aware that he was better than his father, and he knew that he was destined for greatness.

After graduating top of his class at the Academy, Hux was very young, but he was already a grown man. His mind was cold and sharp, his abilities were superior to those of his peers. All of his teachers were sure that he was going to have a promising career, quickly ascending the ranks of the First Order. Hux also knew that it was time to leave his father’s shadow, to stand up for himself and think about his future on his own. Because his father wanted him to be just like a copy of himself, just a tool in someone else’s hands. In Snoke’s hands. But Hux wanted _more_. He wanted _all_. He wanted to be the Emperor to rule the galaxy, the new leader of the First Order, with every living being in the universe bowing before him.

Becoming the Emperor wasn’t Hux’s dream. Dreams were for foolish little kids who lived in a world of fantasies, and they could never come true. But Hux had always been intelligent, and he knew better than to dream. So no, being the Emperor of the galaxy wasn’t his dream. It was his ambition, his goal, his project for the future. He spent years, his entire career as an officer of the First Order, working towards his main objective. And once he made General, he could feel that he was close. There was only one more person - more like a _being_ , actually - to stand in his way: Supreme Leader Snoke. And, after the destruction of _Starkiller Base_ , it was quite time to start thinking about a plan to get rid of him.

Strategy had always been Hux’s forte. He knew very well that he couldn’t just walk to Snoke and shoot him with a blaster like he could have done with everyone else. First of all, because he didn’t have a clue of where Snoke actually was. Second, because the Supreme Leader would have stopped the blast with the power of the Force, and then he would have given Hux a very slow and incredibly painful death for betraying him, most likely without even feeling the need to lift a finger to do that. Therefore rushing things was not the way to go - unless Hux was looking for an early death, and he could swear that he wasn’t. His actions needed to be carefully planned, without leaving a single possibility unthought of. He wouldn’t make any mistakes, because ruling the galaxy was his goal and he wasn’t going to stop before he achieved it.

General Hux knew all too well that a good strategy could only be planned when there was enough knowledge of the enemy’s weaknesses. He actually wasn’t sure if Snoke had any, since it was too difficult to imagine such a thing. But that was another reason why he needed to carefully think about every move before doing it. Therefore there was only one thing he could do. He needed to do some research about Snoke, trying to find out as much as possible about him. Know your enemy, that was the first rule. And that was exactly what he needed to do.

After making that decision, Hux spent a lot of time doing research. Of course he never neglected his duties as General commanding the troops on board of the _Finalizer_ , and he never changed his sleeping schedule. He just stopped dedicating time to his usual hobbies, preferring to spend all of his free time looking into Snoke’s past. Unfortunately, he soon discovered that there wasn’t much information at all about the Supreme Leader. He went through all of the First Order archives before starting to doubt his plan. There was nothing about Snoke, nothing at all, like if he didn’t even exist. How was he going to plan his death if he didn’t know the first thing about his enemy?

After weeks of useless research, he was almost ready to give up, when he suddenly realized that maybe he hadn’t looked deep enough. By going through the First Order’s archives, he only scraped the surface of knowledge. The First Order was a pretty recent organization, after all. It was possible, actually more likely probable, that the archives were simply incomplete. After all, in recent times there weren’t many people trained in the use of the Force. He knew of course of Luke Skywalker and all of the legends around him; he still thought most of them were just empty words, though. Other than Skywalker, he only knew about Snoke and the Knights of Ren.

Hux was just a little child when the Empire fell, bringing with it the death of the last two Sith Lords. But he still knew that Luke Skywalker was a Jedi, and at the time of Darth Vader’s death there were no other Force-users known to be alive. It only meant that either Snoke was younger than him, being born after the downfall of the Empire, or he was so old that during the reign of Emperor Darth Sidious he had already been forgotten by the world. The option of Snoke being younger than Hux was just stupid: he didn’t look young at all! Also, the Knights of Ren were Snoke’s apprentices, and they were all around Hux’s age, more or less. Kylo Ren was just a few years younger than him, and he was the youngest of the Knights. Snoke needed time to raise his Knights, to train them, and none of this could have been possible if he’d been the same age as Kylo Ren.

All of that only meant one thing: if Snoke wasn’t incredibly young, it only remained the option that he was incredibly old. So old that he was able to hide from the world, so skilled that not even Darth Sidious, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker had been able to sense his presence. Just thinking about the possibility of someone like that existing was disturbing enough, nevertheless he _knew_ that such a person existed. But at least those thoughts gave him a new lead to follow, something concrete to look for. He needed to find out how such a strong Force-user could have survived during the years of the Empire without the Sith Lords knowing about him. And there was only one place where he could think of looking for that kind of information: the old imperial archives. Or at least what was left of them, since most of the information was lost or already inside the First Order’s archives.

Another few weeks passed and, almost three months through his research, Hux still had nothing tangible to use for his plan. He would have loved to have someone he could ask questions to, someone who maybe knew more about Snoke than he did, but that was something else he couldn’t accomplish. Who could know things about Snoke’s past? Maybe the Knights of Ren, if the Supreme Leader ever told anything about himself at all. And asking the Knights was the worst thing Hux could do, since he barely knew who they were, and he was pretty sure none of them would have sold Snoke to him without a good reason, or at all. The only Knight of Ren he usually talked to was Kylo Ren, and the two of them hated each other, so even if he knew something, Ren would have never told him anything, because he respected Snoke or just out of pure spite against him. Moreover, Ren was with Snoke to complete his training, had been for the past three months, so Hux couldn’t have asked him any questions even if he’d wanted to.

Hux was almost ready to give up when, a couple of months after starting to rummage through the archives of the old Galactic Empire, he found something interesting. He wasn’t sure it was anything valuable, but at least it was _something_. Among Darth Vader’s old reports and notes, he found an entry about the story of Darth Sidious; or what the Sith Lord told his apprentice, anyway. Among the things Sidious told Vader throughout the years, apparently, there were a few pieces of information about a his own master, a Sith Lord called Darth Plagueis. At first the discovery didn’t seem to be important, but soon Hux realized that it was probably the most essential piece of the puzzle he could stumble upon.

Through Vader’s notes, he learned that Darth Plagueis was known to be incredibly wise, and powerful enough to prevent other people’s deaths. But then, after teaching his apprentice everything he knew, he was killed by the same Darth Sidious he trained. Darth Vader’s notes were almost ironical while talking about the Sith’s death: someone so strong with the Force to save the lives of others, yet he hadn’t been capable to save his own. He was killed in his sleep by his own apprentice, who used the powers of the Dark Side on him - whatever that meant. Hux had to admit that something about the information he found sounded all too familiar. Wise, powerful, strong with the Force - whatever that meant. It was then that the General realized the similarities between that long dead Sith Lord and Snoke.

A new found enthusiasm was fueling Hux’s research while he looked for information about the Sith called Darth Plagueis. The only reference to that name he could find in the archives of the Empire was through Vader’s notes, but he supposed that maybe there could have been more in the part of the archive that was destroyed. There was no way to know that, though. The only thing he could think about, however, was that maybe somewhere in the galaxy there was still something that could tell the story of Darth Plagueis. Hux spent several more days reading about ancient Sith legends, boring and pretty much useless, since they’d been written more than a thousand years before. But, he had to admit, there was still something about those legends that could fascinate him.

Snoke was a Sith, of that Hux was sure. Maybe he didn’t call himself Darth-something, but in the General’s opinion the Supreme Leader couldn’t be anything different. His research told him that the Force had both Light and Darkness, and every Force-user could decide from which one of the sides to obtain their power. Everything more profound than that was difficult to understand for anyone who wasn’t Force-sensitive, even for someone as intelligent as Hux. He also learned that people with selfish intentions were easily persuaded to use the Dark Side of the Force, if that was the correct way to say it. The people who relied on the Dark Side were many, but no-one was as strong as the Sith Lords. That was exactly why Hux was certain that Snoke was a Sith. And even if he wasn’t one himself, he most likely had been trained by one. He was too superior to be otherwise.

Hux never believed in predestination or other stupid fantasies. He believed in the power of a man’s will, that was all every living being needed in order to achieve their goals; well, that and a cunning mind, of course, which he certainly had. The legends he read were full of stories about the Force as a sentient power that could basically make impossible things happen on its own free will, and Hux was sure it was just a lot of mystical crap. Having seen and felt the power of Force-users, he knew that the Force existed and that it could make someone extremely powerful. But he also believed that the power depended on the wielder, on how hard they trained and how much they were confident in their own strength. The Force couldn’t act on its own, someone needed to use it.

Yet, there was the scavenger girl. He knew Kylo Ren’s power, he knew the Knight was an unstoppable killing machine, so childish but still so strong. And Ren was bested by a girl with no training in the use of the Force. After rescuing Ren from the destruction of Starkiller Base, Hux remembered asking him how he could have lost that fight, mocking him. “The Force is too strong with her. It showed her how to stop me.” Ren had replied with a growl. Hux had laughed at him, in that occasion, sure that the other man was just giving pointless excuses for his pitiful defeat. The General had never thought the Force could have helped the girl defeat Ren on its own accord, he was sure that the Knight was just too ashamed to admit he committed mistakes that brought to his own demise.

And then, one day, Hux started doubting his beliefs. Of course he would have never claimed that mystical energies were alive, but he was forced to admit that maybe the Force really had the possibility to show people the right path to take. After the realization he even thought that, if he was going to see Ren again, he should have apologized to him for the way he laughed about the Knight’s defeat - the fact that he should have apologized didn’t mean that he was actually going to do it, by the way. The strangest thing of all was the way Hux ended up changing his mind about the Force.

It all happened on a perfectly normal day. The _Finalizer_ reached a system that didn’t appear on the First Order’s maps. It wasn’t so rare, since their maps matched those of the old Empire, and most of the material contained in those archives had been destroyed when the second Death Start exploded. So he asked Snoke for directions, since the system looked entirely uninhabited with the exception of a small village on the only inhabitable planet. Such a planet could have been easily conquered, and maybe it could have become a good asset for the First Order’s plans. When he asked the Supreme Leader if he wished that a squad was sent to evaluate the condition of the planet, Hux received the order to act as he saw fit. Therefore he organized two squads to explore the main planet of the system, and out of curiosity he decided to join them. He hadn’t been on a mission in so many years that he couldn’t even remember, and he didn’t know what got into him, he just really wanted to explore the planet. And once he reached the area, he didn’t follow the troops, he just walked around on his own without going too far from their landing shuttles. He had only been walking for a few minutes inside what looked like a jungle, before he literally tripped on something -a rock, probably - and fell to the ground. When Hux got back up, his first instinct was to kick whatever made him fall, and he was incredibly surprised when he realized it wasn’t a simple rock. It was a small pyramidal object, decorated with patterns and symbols, pretty heavy despite its size. He picked it up out of curiosity and immediately felt a strong negative energy invade him. He let go of the object in a second, terrified, but he could still feel the energy emanating from the small pyramid. And then Hux remembered reading about a similar object, while he was studying the Sith legends. It was a Sith holocron, probably containing the memories of the Sith Lord who created it. He wasn’t Force-sensitive, whatever that meant, but still he could feel the Force coming from the holocron.

Only someone who used the Dark Side of the Force could activate the holocron and reveal the secrets guarded inside it, Hux knew that much. So he was surprised when a voice came out of the pyramid, laughing in a way that could make his blood freeze. Was it possible that the memories inside the holocron were making fun of him?

“Such an _ordinary_ human being. So disappointed, after all this time…” the voice coming from the holocron said.

“Who are you?” Hux asked, acting as he was still in control, hiding the fear he was feeling.

“I’m the gatekeeper of this holocron.” the voice answered. And after it finished speaking, the voice materialized as an hologram from the pyramid, staring at Hux like he was nothing more than a toy to play with.

Hux couldn’t recognize the appearances of the creature. It belonged to a race he’d never seen before. It looked disgusting, with big eyes and forehead and a diabolical smirk. The General didn’t know much about that kind of technology, so he couldn’t know why exactly the legends said that Sith holocrons couldn’t be trusted. But he was more curious than he’d ever been before in his entire life. He wanted to ask questions, he wanted to know if that gatekeeper could help him find the answers he was looking for.

“Can you give me information about what you’re guarding?” Hux inquired.

“No, I can’t. Only those who wield the the power of the Dark Side of the Force can unravel the mysteries of the Sith knowledge.” the General was disappointed by those words, but the gatekeeper kept talking “However, I can feel your willpower through the Force, and it’s impressive. I’m sure that you’re destined to greatness. Therefore I will allow you to ask three questions. It will be up to me to decide if you’re worthy of the answer, depending on what you’ll ask. I just warn you: don’t be sure that you can trust me.”

The idea of asking three questions wasn’t comforting enough. How could he extract useful information with so few possibilities? It wasn’t going to work. But Hux also knew that no-one without the power of the Force could even talk to a Sith holocron. The gatekeeper appeared to him, and gave him the possibility to inquire a little. Even if Sith holocrons usually weren’t trustworthy, this was probably his one and only chance to ask any questions to a Force-wielder!

“Okay, I can work with that.” Hux said, already thinking about the first question “Do you know anything about someone who uses the Dark Side of the Force and calls himself Snoke?”

“Never heard of him.” the gatekeeper answered immediately.

The General realized that the words given by the holocron seemed to be honest. It meant that probably the gatekeeper was telling the truth. Was he really hoping to solve his mystery with the first question? He was General Hux of the First Order, he wasn’t so naive! Thinking about a second question took him a little more time, but in the end he thought it was worth the shot.

“Did you know a Sith Lord called Darth Plagueis?” was the second question.

This time, he noticed, the gatekeeper took a little more time before he answered. Hux was tense while waiting for the response to come.

“Oh yes. Yes, I knew him all too well.” were the words from the holocron.

Hux’s attention was now entirely on the image of the gatekeeper projected by the holocron. So the Sith who created the object knew the Sith he was doing research about. What a wonderful coincidence! But still, he only had one remaining question to ask. And he needed to think very well about what to say, because he couldn’t risk to ask something that the gatekeeper would consider impossible to answer. He had to remember that the holocron was not supposed to be giving any knowledge to someone like him. So it took him a while, but in the end he had an idea of what to ask.

“Since you knew him, please tell me what kind of Sith he was and how he died.” Hux said when he decided it was time for the last question.

“I can’t tell you much about him, you know. You’re not qualified to hear the answer. But I can tell you that Darth Plagueis was born a Muun of Mygeeto, and the last time I saw him he still looked like one. But he was so lost in the Dark Side that later in his life he probably got disfigured, not only by the scar on his face but also by the power coming from within. You also asked me about his death, but I’m not sure what to say about it. I’m pretty sure Darth Plagueis can’t die.” were the gatekeeper’s words.

As soon as the third question was answered, the gatekeeper gave Hux an evil grin, then he disappeared inside the holocron. The General quickly dropped on his knees to pick up the holocron again, calling for the gatekeeper to come back, but the pyramid stayed still and silent in his hands, like it was dead. He had already received all the knowledge he could ask for. Quickly, Hux put he holocron inside one of his pockets, then he started to walk back to the shuttles that would have taken him back to the _Finalizer_ together with the troopers who were currently exploring the planet.

Once he was again on board of his ship, Hux shut himself inside his quarters to think about what happened. He sat behind his desk, the holocron silent on the surface right in front of him. Was it possible that the Force itself made sure that he found that thing? Because the holocron he found was able to give him important news, and the fact that he found it in the middle of the vegetation on a planet he casually decided to take a stroll on was too much of a coincidence even for him. Destiny, _his_ destiny wanted him to find the holocron for some reason.

During the following days, he spent even more time than usual lost in his research. He soon realized that the gatekeeper had given him the last piece of the puzzle, so after that it didn’t take long for him to realize that Snoke could have been Darth Plagueis. Snoke didn’t look human; he didn’t look Muun either, but the gatekeeper said he was probably disfigured. A scar on his face was also mentioned, and Snoke had one. The holocron also mentioned that Darth Plagueis most likely couldn’t be killed, so he was probably still alive. Darth Sidious only thought he killed his master, but the Sith indeed survived and remained hidden for many years before he came back under the public eye with the name of Supreme Leader Snoke.

This realization was difficult to grasp by Hux’s mind. The fact that Snoke was Darth Plagueis meant two different things at the same time, a good and a bad one. The good one was that he finally knew exactly who he was dealing with. The bad one was that, if he survived the assassination operated by Darth Sidious and was most likely immortal, killing him would have been highly difficult if not impossible. But he couldn’t let that negative thought sink too deep inside his mind, he needed to stay calm and think like the great strategist he was. He didn’t make it to General so young because he was an idiot! He did it because he was a genius, and the time to prove it had finally come.

The next think Hux decided to do research about was the large topic of Sith traditions. That was when he found out about the so called Rule of Two, stating that in the galaxy there could only be a Sith Lord and an apprentice. But that rule was in huge contrast with the entire concept of the Knights of Ren that Snoke had under his control. Was it possible that the Knights were just some disposable weapons, while the Supreme Leader only had one real apprentice? It looked like that might have been the case. From the information he was able to gather, Kylo Ren was the only one to receive a preferential treatment from Snoke. He was the only one who was trained like a real apprentice to a Sith Lord, not just like one guy who was part of a group.

Was it possible that Snoke was trying to shape Kylo Ren into the perfect Sith? It sure could have been the case. And if the Rule of Two was correct, at some point either the Master or the apprentice would have killed the other one. Usually apprentices killed the Masters after learning everything that the Sith Lords had to teach. But it was something that couldn’t be taken for granted. When the apprentice became too strong, sometimes the Master started to fear for their own life and killed the apprentice. That, in particular, was interesting for General Hux. Because Darth Plagueis already made once the mistake to trust his apprentice fully, and Darth Sidious killed him in return - or at least he thought he killed him. So Hux was pretty sure that Snoke wasn’t going to make the same mistake again with Kylo Ren. If Ren ever became too powerful, probably this time the Sith would have tried to kill him.

This realization could become very useful. If at some point Snoke would have tried to kill Kylo Ren, then Ren might have been the perfect ally for Hux. As he always thought, no-one could just walk to Snoke and shoot him with a blaster. But his apprentice was a strong warrior; he could walk to Snoke and slice him into little pieces with his lightsaber. In order to defeat an enemy who was strong with the Force, he needed to have by his side someone who was even stronger. So all Hux had to do was to wait for Ren’s return, and hope that his training with Snoke went beyond the Supreme Leader’s expectations.

***

It was another month before Hux received a communication from Snoke, saying that Kylo Ren’s training was complete and that the Knight was going back to the _Finalizer_ to resume his position as co-commander of the ship. Hux wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having Ren back. That man’s childish tantrums always scared his crew and destroyed entire rooms of the ship, ruining important and expensive equipment. Also Ren’s arrogance was difficult to deal with, and the Knight had the power to get under his skin like no-one else in the entire galaxy. He always questioned Hux on his decisions, probably just to piss him off, and he walked around the _Finalizer_ giving orders like he was in charge - and he actually was, but the General hated to think that they actually shared command.

On the other hand, Ren’s return to the _Finalizer_ could have been a strategic advantage for Hux’s plans. He needed to test the Knight’s new powers, the result of his training with the Supreme Leader. He needed to understand if Snoke could feel threatened by Kylo Ren’s power, and if Ren was strong enough to take on his own Master. So, even if he hated the idea of having the Knight back on board, part of him was impatiently waiting for his arrival.

The day Kylo Ren came back, the entire crew of the _Finalizer_ was tense. Hux could feel how nervous troopers and officers were when he passed them along the hallways, walking steadily to the hangar where he was supposed to meet the Knight. The General didn’t receive any specific order about greeting Ren himself, but he decided to do it anyway. It was just another way to remind Ren how a true commander should act, giving the direct example. But then, when Kylo Ren’s shuttle landed and the man walked out, Hux regretted trying to be professional about this.

“Welcome back, Lord Ren.” Hux said with his usual cold voice, standing perfectly straight with both hands behind his back.

“General Hux” the Knight replied “I’m surprised to see you’re still in charge here. I hoped you’d gotten yourself killed since the last time I saw you.”

If Hux’s eyes could kill, then Kylo Ren would have dropped dead on the spot. The General felt insulted beyond the limits of what was acceptable. And just to make things worse, it all happened in public. His crew respected and feared him too much to just start laughing at Ren’s words, but even without looking around Hux could tell that everyone in the hangar was uncomfortable, and secret whisperings already started. He had to take a long breath before he opened his mouth to speak again.

“I’m not as reckless as you, Ren, that’s why _I didn’t_ almost die just a few months ago.” the words that came out of Hux’s mouth had the one and only purpose to hurt the other man, but the General couldn’t understand if they hit hard enough, since Ren was wearing his mask - a new one, since the other one was left on _Starkiller_. It wasn’t easy to read the other’s feelings without seeing his face, but at least this time Hux was pretty sure that he hit his target. After all it had only been a little more than six months since he retrieved a bleeding Kylo Ren from the snow on _Starkiller Base_ and saved his life.

“Careful, Hux. You don’t want any accidents to happen, do you?” Ren’s voice, modulated by the mask, sounded like a threat.

“I’m not afraid of you, Ren. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. I had your old quarters prepared for you, so you can go there and rest after your long journey. Tomorrow morning I’m expecting to see you in the main conference room for a meeting at 09:00, not a minute later.” saying this, Hux turned on his heels and walked away, trying to conceal anger on his face.

Ren didn’t answer, he just stormed out of the hangar walking in the opposite direction from the one Hux took. The General was sure that the shortest way to Ren’s quarters matched for a few minutes the same path he was taking, so it was with pride and joy that he realized the Knight took the long way in order to avoid walking with him. Good, Ren had been back five minutes and they were already at each other’s throats. They were never able to cooperate, they couldn’t even be in the same room without getting on each other’s nerves. But this time was going to be different. Hux wasn’t going to allow Ren to disrespect him; he was going to stand up to that spoiled brat, demanding for respect, even if that meant trying to intimidate the Master of the Knights of Ren.

***

Kylo hated being back on the _Finalizer_. He felt useless when he was trapped inside a ship, without any real mission to keep his mind occupied. And most of all he hated the new attitude Hux was showing towards him. The stuck-up bastard looked down on Kylo like he had the right to do so. And the Master of the Knights of Ren simply couldn’t deal with that. Not when his brain was still exhausted after the long months of training. The time he spent with Snoke destroyed him in both body and mind, in order to make him stronger. And he needed to ease back into his everyday life, to have things going his way, in order to show the real strength that training brought along. General Hux kicking him around and complaining about everything he did wasn’t what Kylo was hoping to find as he reassumed his duties as co-commander.

Two weeks after his arrival on the _Finalizer_ , Kylo had already destroyed five control panels and killed three stormtroopers and a petty officer. While recovering back to full strength, he was beginning to feel bored and restless. He couldn’t bare to rest on his ass all day any longer. It was true that he needed to recover from the hard training, but staying still on a ship while floating through space wasn’t the best way to do it. He needed to do _something_ , anything, in order to keep using his powers. Otherwise all the strength he gained during the months he spent with Snoke would just go to waste. And he couldn’t allow that, not after the effort he put into making himself better.

So when General Hux required a meeting with him in his office, Kylo decided to attend. He was hoping that the bastard had some kind of mission for him, and not just another session of childish scolding, because he really couldn’t endure more of that. His love for pissing off Hux, however, was so strong that he couldn’t help but get there fifteen minutes late. On his arrival, he could see that the General wasn’t pleased with his behavior. Good, that was exactly what he was expecting.

Hux was waiting for him in his office, sitting in a stiff position behind his desk. A datapad was in front of him, and Kylo thought that the man might have been writing or reading something on it before his arrival. When he entered the room, however, Hux was already staring at him in a way that looked like disgust.

“Ren, thank you for honoring me with your presence.” the General said in a sarcastic tone. He was probably annoyed by his late arrival.

“Whatever.” Kylo replied, his voice metallic and neutral thanks to the voice modulator of his mask “What do you want?”

He was standing in front of the desk, waiting. He didn’t care about sitting down, because he wanted this conversation to be over as quickly as possible. Probably Hux was able to sense his impatience, because he took all the time in the world to study him with what looked like a bored expression before starting to talk.

“Last week Colonel Banter’s ship collided with a couple of Resistance freighters that were transporting provisions to an unknown Resistance base. He easily won the battle, but before he had a chance to destroy the ships they jumped into hyperspace and disappeared. From what we know, they’re both damaged and couldn’t get back to the main Resistance base. Our intelligence states that they landed on a small planet at the limits of Hutt Space, just a few systems away from the Outer Rim. We’re getting closer to the location, and as soon as we get out of hyperspace I need you to take your shuttle and land on the planet. Your mission will be to find the ships, kill all the Resistance scum you find along the way, and bring me back the highest ranking officer you can find for interrogation. Captain Phasma’s unit will act as your backup. Questions?”

During the entire explanation, Hux’s voice had been perfectly still, serious, commanding. His gaze never left Kylo’s eyes, even if he was sure that the General couldn’t actually see his eyes because of the mask. Still, he had to admit that the bastard had even more courage than he remembered. The way Hux was acting was indeed professional, but Kylo thought of it as inappropriate. No-one dared to look him in the eyes and give him orders, with the exception of his Master Snoke. Everyone else who had tried it in the past had died a painful death. Yet Hux seemed confident while telling him what to do like he was some worthless stormtrooper.

“What makes you think that I’m going to follow your order like a good dog?” Kylo spat out those words with hatred, concealing his true feelings: he actually felt ashamed for letting some perfectly ordinary guy talk to him in such a disrespectful way. So while speaking he used the Force to reach to Hux’s mind, trying to get through. He wanted to make the man apologize for his words, he longed to bend the General to his power.

What Kylo wasn’t expecting was the General’s reaction. Hux didn’t crumble under the power of the Force. He kept staring at him with bright blue eyes sparkling with pride, a pleased smirk on his face, while he resisted Kylo’s attempt to enter his mind. Trying to look casual wasn’t helping at all, because it prevented the Knight from using his full power. Raising his hand and increasing his level of concentration would have been a stupid thing to do, by the way. He had no other reason to enter Hux’s mind than to give him a demonstration of his powers, and he was well aware that this action was uncalled for. Putting more effort in what he was doing, he would have easily breached the General’s mind, but he would have also given Hux a good reason to mock him some more and call him a child. And he absolutely _wasn’t_ throwing a tantrum! He was just trying to intimidate one of the individuals he despised the most in the entire galaxy. Failing miserably.

He realized that, whatever he decided to do, the bastard would have come out on top. And he hated Hux even more for cornering him, without even trying to think that he actually brought that humiliating situation upon himself entirely on his own. Trying not to sigh, because his mask would have enhanced the sound instead of concealing it, Kylo released the pressure on Hux’s mind. The satisfaction on the General’s face was so frustrating that Kylo wished for Master Snoke’s permission to just kill the man and be done with all of the crap Hux kept pulling on him.

“So Ren, is this the result of your training? A poor attempt, indeed. I’m so disappointed.” Hux’s jeering tone was unbearable, especially considering the unnerving sneer that Kylo really wanted to punch out of the General’s face.

Rage started to flow through Kylo’s body and exploded. He extended his right arm and used the Force to choke the bastard, hoping to cancel that damned mocking expression from his face. Hux was caught off guard, he could tell as much by the way his gaze wavered for a moment. But then the look of utter confidence was back, feeding Kylo’s anger. He unleashed his entire power on Hux, trying once again to enter his mind, and this time not showing any kindness. He had every intention to smash down every barrier the General was trying to put up, proving once and for all that no common man could ever match a Force-user.

While trying to force his way into Hux’s mind, he could have never imagined to find the task so difficult. He had to admit, the bastard had the strongest willpower and self-esteem Kylo had ever encountered. He actually couldn’t even imagine someone could manage to be so proud of his own intelligence to actually be able to shield his mind that much. Furthermore, he was resisting his mind-reading while struggling to breathe because of the choking. And people called _him_ a monster! If he was a monster, was the hell was Hux?

Kylo was starting to panic, but luckily the mask he was wearing concealed the scared look on his face. His outstretched arm started shaking because of the strong effort he was making, and with pleasure he saw blood slowly coming out of the General’s nose, while his face was turning an unpleasant shade of blue. Good, he was starting to break. What he didn’t expect was to hear Hux’s voice strong and clear in his mind. _GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_ was the painful shout. And it hurt, it hurt so much that Kylo had to grab his head with both hands while letting out a growl, fingernails scratching the surface of the helmet. Doing that, he unwillingly let go of Hux.

When the pain started to diminish, Kylo glanced at Hux across the desk. He had both hands around his throat, trying to breathe as much as possible to re-oxygenate his body, ignoring the blood coming out of his nose. Kylo had to admit that the General was impressive. How could someone who wasn’t strong with the Force resist him? Was it possible that Hux was actually a stronger Force-user than he was, strong enough to conceal his powers so that he could appear like an ordinary man? No, it was impossible… Light Side or Dark Side, it was always possible to feel the Force flowing through any Force-user. Notwithstanding this, and Kylo would _never_ admit something like that out loud, for a few seconds he’d been afraid of Hux. Not because the man could kill him, but because he could make the most powerful of the Knights of Ren look weak. And he didn’t want to feel weak anymore.

“If you’re quite finished.” Hux’s words, pronounced with a rough voice caused by the sore throat, captured Kylo’s attention once again “Captain Phasma will be waiting for you in the main hangar in twenty minutes.”

Kylo glared at the General for a few seconds, certain that the other man could clearly read his expression even if his face was hidden by the mask. Then he stormed out of the office with rage. While the door was closing again behind him, he heard something that sounded pretty much like “What a child”. He marched with long strides along the corridors of the _Finalizer_ , hurrying towards the hangar. The anger and shame he felt while talking to Hux were fueling his powers. He couldn’t wait to reach his destination and let hell get loose on every Resistance fighter who dared to cross his path.

***

Breathing had never been so hard. It took almost an entire hour before Hux was able to look like himself again, even if a strong discomfort in his throat persisted much longer than that. He had to admit that never before in his life he’d been so close to die. He’d been terrified, but years of strict military training helped him conceal his emotions pretty well. He’d been able to show confidence instead of fear, and he was certain that Ren had been impressed by his willpower. Very few people had a mind strong enough to resist the direct attack of a Force-user as powerful as Kylo Ren. Fortunately, he was one of them. His mind was his most precious tool for victory, and like every weapon needed maintenance, he never stopped training his brain. He wasn’t considered a genius, the youngest and yet most feared General of the First Order, based on nothing!

A small recording droid had been assigned to Phasma’s unit following his orders. The droid was to record the entire mission and transmit the images directly to Hux’s holoprojector. Since the Captain was trustworthy enough, she was the only one to know about the existence of the droid. The reason behind this was the General’s certainty that Kylo Ren would have tried to destroy the droid just to piss him off, so it was better if Phasma was the only one to know about his intention to spy on the mission.

With a glass of brandy in his right hand - alcohol helped with the sore throat, plus a drink was always needed after spending time with Ren - Hux turned his holoprojector on and accepted image transmission from the droid on the field. From what he could see, they had just arrived on the planet. The droid was traveling with Phasma and the stormtroopers in a transport shuttle, and as soon as they got off said shuttle, the images gave feedback of Kylo Ren already knocking off people with the Force. The battle didn’t last very long. There weren’t many members of the Resistance on the ships that had landed there a few days before, but the locals interfered with the operation and they had to be eliminated too. From what he could see, Phasma’s unit worked with the usual professionalism, in perfect tactical schemes. By the way, under his direct command, the droid was mostly following Ren.

Hux had to admit that Snoke’s training hadn’t been useless in the least. Even if he’d mocked Ren before, when the Knight hadn’t been able to read his mind, he could still feel the power invading his consciousness. And, looking at the holoprojector, he could see that very power with his own eyes. Ren was moving through the battlefield with gracious and fluid movements, like a dancer, swinging his lightsaber with incredible precision, without wasting a single move. The saber was slashing enemies as easily as it slashed the air, and the Resistance fighters were falling one by one. Sipping his drink, Hux took a closer look at the projection. If he stared at the images long enough, he could almost imagine Ren’s concentrated face as it was behind the mask. The General thought that Ren’s mask was incredibly superfluous: he used it to hide his face, so that no-one could read his emotions, but his body language was actually more than enough to understand everything about him. And Hux was good at reading people, even without the need to enter their minds.

When the droid retreated towards the shuttle with Captain Phasma and the stormtroopers, no enemies were left. The battle had been a massacre. They only lost a bunch of troopers, while the adversaries were entirely annihilated. Even the Resistance freighters were destroyed. The ground was covered in pieces of the enemies, scattered all around. There wasn’t much blood, because most of the carnage was made by a lightsaber, and Hux had long ago learned that such a weapon cauterized the wounds inflicted preventing the loss of blood.

As soon as the shuttles left the planet, Hux turned off the holoprojector and relaxed against his chair. He could say that he was satisfied with the result of Ren’s actions. He proved to be extremely powerful, way more than he was before his training with Snoke. That only had one meaning in the General’s mind: the apprentice was probably able to kill his master.

***

It had been four days since the destruction of the Resistance freighters, and everything aboard the _Finalizer_ had gone back to normal - if _that_ was normal in the first place. Another couple of control panels had been destroyed, a stormtrooper had been cut into little pieces, and the crew was terrified. Every time Kylo Ren was spotted walking around the ship, people fled from the hallways and rooms he passed, not caring in the least about retaliation upon abandoning their posts. Hux hated that, and most of all he was furious with himself for not being able to stop the reckless behavior of the Knight of Ren.

With those thoughts in mind, the General was walking quickly across the ship, heading to one of the biggest conference rooms. He’d been notified that Supreme Leader Snoke had requested a private audience with him, so he was heading as fast as he could to the specific room where he knew the huge holo figure would be waiting for him. His stride was martial, his body stiff, hands clasped behind his back. Everyone who encountered him in the corridors stopped abruptly to salute him with respect, but he didn’t give any sign of noticing their actions. When he had less burdens on his mind, he used to nod to every crew member who saluted him, but in that precise moment he couldn’t care less. The stormtroopers, technicians and petty officers weren’t important, when he was about to have a one-on-one conversation with Snoke.

When he entered the conference room, the giant hologram of the Supreme Leader was already there. Snoke was sitting on his throne, as usual, looking calm and inscrutable. Hux stopped right in front of him and stood still, bowing his head in respect for a moment. “Supreme Leader.” he said as a greeting, then he raised his head to let his eyes reach those of his leader. That was the time when usually Snoke greeted him in return, cold but polite. It wasn’t a good sign when he noticed that such action wasn’t happening. He started to worry.

“General Hux, why did you order an assault on Kaller? The planet is already under First Order control.” Snoke spoke with a controlled yet enraged voice.

Hux was left genuinely puzzled by the question. He was well aware of the political situation on Kaller. It was one of the first planets of the Outer Rim that the First Order pacifically conquered when the military organization started to make itself known. He was barely out of the Academy when he accompanied his senior officers on the planet to attend the surrender negotiations. Said negotiations went on smoothly, and no problems were caused by the Kallerans ever since. Why in the name of the galaxy would he have wanted to order an assault on Kaller? His confusion was easy to read on his face.

“Supreme Leader, I really have no idea what you’re talking about. I never gave such an order, Sir.” Hux said with the most collected voice he could manage.

“Then who gave Kylo Ren the order to attack the planet and wipe out its population?” another question was spat out as a cold and strong sound.

“Kylo Ren doesn’t allow anyone to give him orders, with the exception of you, Supreme Leader. He barely listens to me, and he complies to my commands only because he knows that I answer to you directly.” honesty seeped from the General’s words.

“I see… Then do you care to explain _why_ he is on Kaller right now killing the local population?” the Supreme Leader asked.

As soon as he heard the question, Hux took his datapad out of a pocket of his greatcoat and quickly typed a code to access classified information. After a few seconds a beeping sound echoed in the room, accompanied by a flashing red dot on the screen of the pad. It was the signal of Ren’s location, and according to it the Knight was on the _Finalizer_.

“According to the tracker on his belt, in this moment Lord Ren is in his quarters. In his sleeping room, to be more precise.” Hux said, still not understanding entirely what was exactly happening.

“According to the disturbance I feel in the Force, he’s not.” Snoke replied to his statement.

For several seconds the two of them stayed still, in perfect silence. Anger was visible on the marred face of the Supreme Leader. Hux, on the other hand, was scared. The fact that he let Kylo Ren sneak out undetected to bring destruction upon First Order territories on his own accord could easily end badly for the General. Was Snoke going to consider him responsible of what was happening? Was he going to pay for what Ren did? He held his breath when he saw the Supreme Leader leaning forward on his throne.

“You’ve always done a good job commanding the First Order for me, that’s why I entrusted Kylo Ren to you.” Snoke’s voice sounded louder and louder “And yet you proved yourself incapable of babysitting an overgrown child!” he yelled “You better keep a close eye on Kylo Ren from now on, if you wish to keep your position within the Order… and your head.” Snoke hissed the last part.

Hux exhaled silently, then lowered his head in penance. “Yes Supreme Leader, it won’t happen again.” he said with all the confidence he could muster.

“Then go, sort out this mess and make sure Kylo Ren comes to talk to me as soon as he gets back on the _Finalizer_.” the Supreme Leader commanded “And General Hux, don’t ever disappoint me again. After the failure of Starkiller Base I’ve been magnanimous, but this is your last chance.”

The threat lingered in the air long enough to sink deep inside the mind of General Hux. The redhead bowed to the Supreme Leader, then the hologram disappeared. Only then Hux stormed out of the room, scared and enraged. He quickly reached the command deck of the _Finalizer_ and approached one of the junior officers.

“Lieutenant Mitaka, call Lord Ren on his comlink and tell him Supreme Leader Snoke ordered him to come back to the _Finalizer_ immediately!” he barked out.

The Lieutenant was startled by the sudden command, but started immediately to work on the communication, scared by the look of cold anger on the General’s face. Satisfied by the result, Hux turned around and left, proceeding towards the hangars. He needed to find out _how_ exactly Ren had been able to leave the ship undetected, and he was worried about what he might have found upon his arrival. In the best case scenario, the Knight had just played some mind tricks on the stormtroopers guarding the hangar where his command shuttle was, but he really didn’t want to think about what the worst case scenario could have been.

One thing was certain in Hux’s mind: Kylo Ren was too powerful to be restrained for long. He was getting out of control pretty quickly, and probably Snoke was starting to think about him as a liability. How long would it have taken before the Supreme Leader tried to act against his Knight? Probably not too long, if things kept progressing at that speed rate. The situation was becoming more dangerous by the minute, and Hux’s own life had already been threatened. It was time to act, then. The time had come to tell Kylo Ren about his plan.

***

After the high of destroying the Resistance freighters, after the bloodlust he felt because of the anger he entered the battle with, Kylo found calming down to be more complicated than ever before. Every time he closed his eyes he kept feeling the power flowing through his body, and the need to let it out. He tried to meditate the longing for massacre away, but it was pointless. He couldn’t stop feeling the need to destroy. And so he ruthlessly attacked two control panels and dismembered a stormtrooper. He could have brought more damage to the _Finalizer_ , but when he was about to hit another panel with his lightsaber, something surfaced in his mind. A memory. The image of blue eyes staring him down with pride, a man keeping _him_ out of his head while choking to death.

Four days after his encounter with General Hux, thinking about what happened was still able to send shivers down his spine. He still couldn’t understand how exactly that man had been able to resist his use of the Force, and he wanted some answers. Still, he couldn’t find it in him to ask Master Snoke about it. It would have been too humiliating, too embarrassing. So the problem remained: he was powerless when it came to attacking Hux, and the General was still a huge pain in his ass. Destroying more equipment of the ship would have meant to enrage him, and as a consequence he would have had to face the bastard again. Kylo was living his life way better when Hux was staying out of it, and thank you very much.

Those thoughts led him to make a decision: he had to bring his anger somewhere else, where Hux had no reason to get mad. So he entered the main hangar of the _Finalizer_ , used the Force to convince the personnel in charge of the area that he’d never been there, boarded his command shuttle and left. He had no destination in mind, every planet was fine actually. So he landed on the first inhabited planet he saw, without even knowing which planet it was, and whom it was loyal to. He didn’t care, he just wanted to kill.

Receiving a call from Lieutenant Mitaka with orders from the Supreme Leader to come back immediately was a shock. On the way back to the _Finalizer_ , he checked his datapad and found a message from Hux. _Leader Snoke wants you to meet him as soon as you get back. He’s not pleased._ He could almost sense the satisfaction that the General had obviously felt while typing those words! And he was worried about why his Master was “not pleased”, to put it in Hux’s words. Kylo really didn’t understand what he did wrong. But as soon as he met the hologram of Snoke he could clearly sense his rage. Only then he found out that he planet he attacked was loyal to the First Order, and if word of what he did was to spread around the galaxy, other planets on their side might have started to doubt the Order’s loyalty towards its allies.

Okay, after spending an entire hour on his knees, his head bowed, hearing his Master yell at him, Kylo realized that he had probably screwed up. All he wanted to do, after leaving the conference room where the Supreme Leader appeared to him, was to barricade himself inside his quarters, take a cold shower and meditate. He needed to clear his head, to let go of all the guilt he felt over his Master’s words. So he spent the rest of the day deep in meditation, trying to reach for the Dark Side to help him find peace in the Force. He was so concentrated that he never heard the loud beeping sound of a new message received on his datapad.

Hours later he reopened his eyes, stood up and stretched his back. He couldn’t say he was actually calm, but he was feeling better. Communing with the Force was a great help, and he could almost feel his grandfather giving him strength. Kylo was about to go to sleep when he noticed that there was a new message on his datapad. A message that arrived several hours before… from Hux. For a moment he thought about ignoring it; whatever the General wanted, he could deal with it in the morning. But then he decided that just reading the message wouldn’t have killed him.

_Come to my quarters tonight at 22:30, there’s something we need to talk about. It’s important. Don’t be late_

If his datapad was correct, and Kylo had no reason to doubt that it was, it was already 22:41, eleven minutes after the time Hux was expecting him to show up. But then again, he usually was late every time he was forced to meet Hux, so the General was probably thinking that Kylo got his message hours ago and was just messing around in order to give him a hard time. The Knight, however, kept looking at the message, thinking about what to do. Was he even going to show up at all? The idea of being in the same room with Hux was enough to make the intense desire to destroy come back. On the other hand, the General had never asked him before to meet him in his private quarters, and outside his working hours. There was something important he needed to discuss with Kylo… and Kylo couldn’t deny how curious he was starting to get. What was so important to lead to that meeting request? Kylo Ren needed to find out. So he put on his mask and left, walking a little faster than he usually did.

***

When Kylo reached the door of Hux’s quarters, he was almost thirty minutes late. He didn’t feel any guilt about that, of course, but he still found a question wandering across his mind: what if Hux was so annoyed by his late arrival that he refused to tell him what the meeting was supposed to be about? It would have been a huge waste of Kylo’s precious time, not to mention that he would have had to spend time with Hux for absolutely no reason. Trying not to think about what could have gone wrong in their conversation, the Knight pressed a button on the pad that was located on the side of the door. A few seconds laters, the door slid open to reveal the General in the most informal condition Kylo had ever seen him before: no greatcoat, no gloves, no hat - he’d seen him sometimes without the coat or the hat, but rarely without them both and never without the gloves - and the first button of his uniform was unfastened. He was about to make a joke about Hux starting to look like a human being, when his eyes met the bastard’s face. Anger.

“I was starting to think you died on the way here. Come inside, before anyone sees you.” Hux’s voice was cold, but Kylo was sure that some kind of emotion was hidden behind that tone. Could that be… worry?

Confused about the situation, Kylo walked inside the room, letting the door close back behind him. Why would it have been a problem if anyone saw him entering the General’s quarters? What they were doing was none of the crew’s business. But then again, thinking about it for a second longer, it might have seemed a little strange and maybe suspicious if someone saw him entering the private quarters of a man he despised in the middle of the night. People could have thought _any kind_ of things about them. Luckily he was wearing his mask, that was able to hide his blushing. As soon as he was in the middle of the room, he realized that Hux was still by the door, entering some kind of code on the panel controlling the functionality of the door. Was he… locking them inside? Oh no, not good.

“Hux, what… what are you doing?” he asked, uncertain. The voice modulator on his mask gave an even more awkward inflection to his perplexed tone.

The answer didn’t come right away. After locking the door, the General started to type some codes into another control panel. This time the lights dropped to fifty percent and a low buzzing appeared as a background sound, not too loud but still irritating. While his eyes adjusted to a lower light, Kylo looked around to see that the living area of Hux’s quarters was bigger than the one he had in his quarters. Or maybe not, maybe it was just the same, and it only seemed bigger because there weren’t dirty clothes and broken furniture scattered on the floor. Everything in there was perfectly organized, just like everything else seemed to be in Hux’s life. He was an incredibly boring man, the Knight was certain about that.

Then, after a few minutes of silence, Hux turned to face him and opened his mouth to talk, closed it again and walked towards the opposite side of the room. Kylo saw him open a cabinet and retrieve a bottle of what looked like some expensive brandy from somewhere in the galaxy and two glasses. He looked while the man walked to a small round table - big enough to comfortably accommodate no more than four people around it - and put the glasses on it. The General filled both glasses with two fingers of brandy, but before closing the bottle again he changed his mind and poured another two fingers in one of the glasses, that he then took for himself.

“Sit down and have a drink, you might need it for this.” Hux suggested before starting to sip from his own glass of brandy.

That was when Kylo got entirely lost in his own reasoning. What did Hux want from him? Suspicious that maybe this was all an act in order to kill him, because there was poison in the offered glass, the Knight actually took off the mask and put it on the table, then used the Force to have the glass glide in his direction. When he took the glass in his hand, he immediately brought it to his nose, trying to smell any kind of poison, having the Force help him in detecting any danger, but it seemed it was actually safe. So another doubt formed inside his mind: why was Hux offering him a drink, if not to poison him? Without even thinking, Kylo’s body automatically moved towards the closest of the chairs that were located around the table and sat down, once again getting lost in his own thoughts. And then it hit him. He understood why Hux did all of that. The invitation in his quarters late at night, locking the door, the lights, the drinks, the informal look. Everything was clear now.

Shock was on Kylo’s face when he jerked his head in Hux’s direction, trying to meet his gaze. Of course, everything was so obvious now!

“Fuck, are you going to tell me that you’re in love with me?” he quickly asked.

It took a moment before Hux realized what he said, and Kylo was able to see the results of said realization show on the General’s face. For the first time since they first met a few years before, there were some not entirely negative emotions showing on Hux’s face. Curious, so he actually _was_ human, after all. What Kylo could see was, first of all, surprise, like he didn’t know what Kylo was talking about, like he was expecting anything but those words. Then came the annoyance, probably because Kylo had reached his own conclusions before he even started to speak. After that Hux’s face showed something like embarrassment, probably he was thinking about the two of them together. And then the always familiar anger came back, as a sign that Hux was mad at him. What Kylo couldn’t understand was why he was getting mad: because his love confession had been spoiled? Too bad for him, because the Knight didn’t want to have anything to do with that! Hux being in love with him was disgusting and wrong on so many levels!

“Are you crazy?” the General asked, still mad but trying not to shout “Why would anyone in their right mind ever be in love with _you_?”

Hux’s words were rude and probably aimed to hurt Kylo’s feelings. The Knight, however, bit on his tongue until he almost drew blood in order to keep as calm as possible. The desire to choke that man to death, with the Force or with his bare hands, was intense and difficult to resist. But after completing his training he was strong, he was certain he could show some control over his powers. He breathed slowly a few times, trying his best to ignore the assumption that nobody could ever love him - which actually was most likely true, but he would have never given Hux the satisfaction to hear him agree. When he was as relaxed as he could get, Kylo opened his mouth to speak.

“You invite me in your quarters during the night, lock the door, lower the lights, offer me a drink, everything while you are dressed less formally than usual, looking uncomfortable with the situation. And I’m the crazy one for making the assumption that you wanted to make a love confession?” both agitation and annoyance were easy to sense in the Knight’s voice.

After a moment of silence, in which the General seemed to be considering his words, Kylo witnessed something he thought he would have never lived long enough to see: Hux laughed. Not with malice or derision, but with something that looked like genuine amusement. The sight left him startled: he didn’t think Hux was capable of displaying something so different from his usual cold expression. For a brief moment he even doubted the man in front of him was really General Hux.

“Okay, I see that my actions might be equivocated, but after the time we spent working together I thought you were well aware of the fact that I entirely despise you.” Hux said, slowly getting back to his usual professional voice “The reason why I wanted to meet you here at this time is that I didn’t want anyone else to know about our meeting, I locked the door to avoid eventual interruptions, I lowered the lights to obscure the security camera, and I also added a buzzing background sound to interfere with the microphones. Because the truth is that I need to talk to you about something work-related, so to speak. A very delicate matter that I’m not entirely comfortable discussing, and that must remain our secret.”

Kylo listened to the explanation and all he could do was blink, not sure he understood. When the realization hit him, he felt the need to blush because of his huge gaffe. But he wasn’t wearing his mask, so if he was to blush the General would have noticed immediately. He decided to take a long sip of his drink instead, feeling the alcohol burn in his throat. He hoped that the color on his cheeks might have passed for a reaction to the brandy. Only when his face was back to its normal skin tone Kylo started to consider the implications of Hux’s words.

“What exactly is so important to require all of these precautions?” Kylo tried to mask the curiosity in his voice behind a daunted tone.

His eyes never left Hux while the General sipped from his glass of brandy, probably putting together the words to express whatever he wanted to say. That came as a surprise to Kylo: the bastard had always been good with speeches, so it was odd to see him at a loss of words. At least a minute passed before Hux decided to start talking again.

“I think that soon the Supreme Leader will try to kill you. Or most likely he’ll try to have you killed, instead of doing it himself.” the voice of the General was the same one he used in staff meetings about military strategy; Kylo had been forced to sit through enough of those meetings to realize that.

What the Knight couldn’t understand was the meaning of the words. Why would Master Snoke ever want him dead? The Supreme Leader spent many years training him. How could he put so much effort into making Kylo that powerful if he wanted to eliminate him as soon as his training was complete? It didn’t make any sense. It was obvious that Hux was lying. He _had_ to be lying!

“It’s absurd. There’s no reason why my Master would want me dead.” he put his glass of brandy on the table and folded his arms on his chest, giving Hux a scrutinizing gaze.

“Actually there is.” Hux sipped from his glass again and started to pace in front of the table before talking again “Are you familiar with the Sith Rule of Two?” he asked, stopping to look at Kylo.

“Of course I’m familiar with the Rule of Two. But what does it have to do with us? We’re no Sith, the Sith are extinct. The Knights of Ren were created as a group to make sure that no stupid rule would prevent the increasing of the numbers of Dark Side Force-users.” Kylo replied, not understanding where the General wanted to get.

“But the Sith are not extinct. One of them is very much alive at the moment.” the bastard stopped to take another look at Kylo’s puzzled expression, then he started to pace again; it was disturbing “I did a lot of research, and I found out that the Supreme Leader is not what he claims to be. He’s actually a Sith Lord who was thought to be dead since the Old Republic era: Darth Plagueis the Wise. And you’re correct about the reason behind the Knights of Ren, but have you ever noticed any difference between the rest of them and yourself? They’re trained as a group and they act like a group, none of them has ever received the special training Leader Snoke gave you, am I correct?”

Kylo considered the words of the General for quite some time, playing with his glass that was still on the table and looking at it, lost in his own thoughts. What Hux said had to be false, of course. Because if it wasn’t it meant that his Master had been lying to him for years; his entire life, to be more precise. And it was impossible. Master Snoke wasn’t the kind of person who just lied to his own apprentice, he was too wise to do something like that. _Wise… Darth Plagueis the Wise…_ The Knight shook his head, chasing the thought away. That idea was utterly stupid. His Master believed in him. His Master was perfect!

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m stronger with the Force than the other Knights, that’s why I was chosen to be their Master. And that’s why I received a more intense training: because I was the only one who could survive it.” Kylo said through gritted teeth, still staring at the glass.

“So you’re stronger than the other Knights. So much stronger than them that you’re the only one who can survive Leader Snoke’s private training. Don’t you see this for what it is? You were singled out from the group and received one-on-one training with the man you call your Master. Where’s the difference between this and the relationship between a Sith Lord and their apprentice?” the General kept pacing while explaining his point of view, and only when he was done talking he sipped from his glass again.

“What could you know about the ways of the Force, you worthless simpleton?” Kylo attacked in reply, staring at Hux with hate. The truth was that the Knight, to be entirely honest, could see perfectly well how much sense the General’s words made. But he didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. Admitting that Hux might have been right didn’t only mean to concede him a victory; it also meant to admit that everything he thought about his relationship with his Master and the other Knights was a lie. And Kylo’s entire world was built around the solid certainties that were Snoke’s words, doubting them felt just so _wrong_.

He could see Hux stop pacing again to look at him. The General sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose with the hand that was free from the glass. The bastard looked exasperated, like an adult who was trying to explain something very simple to a child who refused to understand his words. His face was twisted by rage, and Kylo was sure that soon enough Hux would have started insulting him for calling him a worthless simpleton. So it was to his biggest surprise that the Knight saw the other man down the rest of his brandy - quite a lot of it - in a single gulp and deposit the empty glass on the table. When he looked at Kylo again, his face was as cold as usual.

“Based on your reaction, I might say you understand what I’m talking about. When it comes to the ways of the Force, whatever that means, I’m sure you know more than me. But my research gave me interesting insight about relationships between Force-users from both the Light Side and the Dark Side, so I can assure you that I know what I’m talking about. I would have never thought to confront you about this matter if I wasn’t certain about the information I found.” Hux said.

“So let’s see if I understand what you’re saying.” the Knight started to say, trying to stay calm “You think that the Supreme Leader is a Sith who should have died ages ago, and that receiving special training from him makes me some kind of Sith too.” he waited for a reaction from Hux, who nodded once, before he continued “What I can’t understand is why you’re so concerned with the Rule of Two. There should always be only a Master and an apprentice. Even if we were Sith Lords, and I assure you that we’re not, he’s the Master and I’m the apprentice. Where’s the problem in that?”

“Isn’t your training over? Both you and the Supreme Leader could take on another apprentice, and that would mean that there will be more than the number of Sith allowed by the Rule of Two. Either you or the Supreme Leader have to kill one another, and only when one of you dies the other can take on a new apprentice. And, if I remember correctly, the Supreme Leader was very interested in a certain scavenger girl who swept the snowy floor with your bloody ass, untrained.” Hux said slowly, eyes trying to burn through Kylo.

“It’s nonsense, Hux, and you know it. Master Snoke will never need another apprentice, not when I became so powerful thanks to his training. Even if my training is complete, he would never take on another apprentice and just get rid of me.” the Knight shook his head a little while giving his opinion. His Master needed him, he was _special_ , as the man had been telling him since he was just a child.

“Very powerful, indeed. I’ve been studying you since you came back to the _Finalizer_ , and I noticed how much your powers have increased. And I’m sure I still haven’t seen, nor can understand, most of what you can do. Still, I’m impressed. And you’d better remember this for the rest of your life, because it’s the only compliment I’m ever going to give you until I die.” the General actually praised Kylo, who simply looked at him with confusion in his eyes and a little bit of something that seemed satisfaction. Hux studied the Knight’s reaction for a few moments before starting to talk again “But you know what else you are? _Out of control_. You still let your emotions get the best of you, throwing childish tantrums, breaking my ship, killing my soldiers. And today you outdid yourself by slaughtering one third of the population of a planet under First Order control, giving me at least a month of paperwork and conferences with angry community leaders in order to solve the mess you did.”

The praising had seemed too good to be true, and in fact immediately after came the insults. What Kylo actually couldn’t stand was that he felt really sorry for what he did on the planet. He didn’t care for the lives he took nor for the paperwork and conferences the General was complaining about. Acting so recklessly he disappointed his Master, and only for that he was sorry. But maybe that part was better kept to himself.

“Where exactly are you going with this?” the Knight asked, uncertain.

“You’re a liability. A powerful bomb that can explode at random, blowing up both enemies and allies alike. I’ve been thinking a lot, and I suspect that Snoke” this was the first time Hux said that name out loud without any titles added “will try to wipe out the threat in the only way he knows how: by killing the liability. By killing you.”

Kylo kept staring at Hux, who was still looking at him in return. That was the longest talk they’d ever had without trying to physically hurt each other, and the Knight also noticed that never before the General had talked to him that way. It looked like the bastard was actually treating him like an equal of some sort. It felt odd, they usually just argued all the time, competing for the Supreme Leader’s attentions. Still, this time they were just talking like the normal people they were not.

“And you’re worried about my life? I’m flattered.” Kylo couldn’t stop the sarcasm that permeated his statement. But still, was Hux really concerned about his wellbeing?

“I think the universe might be a way better place without you in it.” no, the General wasn’t concerned about him, at all “But I’m a good strategist, and I can recognize a valuable military asset when I see one. I don’t want such an advantage for the First Order to be wasted, and I’m not going to stand by a leader who takes such poor tactical decisions.”

Hux stopped talking, both hands resting on the table so that he could lean on it, eyes fixed on Kylo’s. So that’s what all the meeting was about. Treason. Kylo could understand why the General had been uncomfortable, why he took all of those precautions before he started to talk. Of course, if word of what Hux said reached the Supreme Leader, the General would be dead in a matter of hours. And the bastard knew it, because he was nervous. Kylo could sense his emotions, his accelerated heartbeat. But he had to give him credit, because his gaze was determined and his mind as impossible to read as ever. The Knight took back his glass from the table and finished the brandy he still had left, feeling the burn of alcohol. It gave him the strength to talk again, because he started to have a bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

“Your words speak of treason. Why are you confessing this to me?” was Kylo’s question. It was followed by several seconds of dense silence.

“Stand by me, Kylo Ren.” when the General spoke again, his voice was strong and almost warm “Together we can kill Snoke and take everything he has. Stand by me and I will make you more powerful than your Master ever wanted you to be. Stand by me, and together you and I shall rule the galaxy!”

The Knight’s eyes went wide with shock. Was that even serious? No, of course it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. He must have misheard something, because it was impossible that General Hux had actually suggested him to commit treason and kill Supreme Leader Snoke to rule the galaxy together. So impossible it was actually incredibly funny. Kylo had to suppress the instinct to laugh, but he wasn’t able to do it for long. Soon enough he burst out laughing, and he didn’t stop for several minutes. Then his eyes met Hux’s and he saw that the General hadn’t moved a single muscle, his face hadn’t changed a bit. Kylo’s laugh died in an instant: the bastard was fucking serious!

“You’re crazy!” was the only thing that Kylo was able to say.

“Why?” and when he thought that nothing could surprise him anymore, Hux asked the most unsettling question he could think about.

General Hux took his hands off the table and folded his arms, standing still like the good soldier he was. It seemed that he really wanted to receive an answer to that stupid question. So Kylo stopped for a few moments to think about something to tell him. There were several hundred reasons why he thought Hux was crazy, but how could he best explain why he voiced that opinion? He repeated the General’s offer in his mind, over and over again, biting on his lower lip to better concentrate. Only after a few minutes he was able to realize which was the most wrong thing that Hux had said.

“Just to name one, you said you will make me more powerful. How do you plan to do that, when you can’t even understand how my powers work?” he inquired. Part of him was actually curious to hear what the General had to say about that. But knowing the bastard, his way to make Kylo stronger would probably be by giving him some stupid weapon that every trained stormtrooper could handle.

“I have acquired a Sith holocron, that now is in my possession on the _Finalizer_. I can give it to you, so you can uncover its secrets. The gatekeeper was crystal clear about this: only those who master the Dark Side of the Force can know the secrets of the holocron. And I think you qualify pretty well for that.” Hux’s words came out with confidence, a sneer on the bastard’s face.

That was more or less the last thing that Kylo could have ever expected from Hux. Not only he knew what a Sith holocron was, and what its gatekeeper was. He also claimed to be in posses of a holocron, and he even said that the gatekeeper had spoken to him. Yes, sure. _That_ Kylo wasn’t going to believe. It was too absurd to be true. First of all, every holocron emanated strong waves of Force, therefore if there had been anything emanating the Force on the ship he would have sensed it immediately. Of course the bastard was an ordinary guy, who knew absolutely nothing about the Force, so he couldn’t know about this detail; first reason to believe he was lying. Then, even if it was true that he had encountered a Sith holocron at some point during his life, he was as Force-sensitive as a leg of the table between them. Gatekeepers only manifested their presence in front of Force-users who were able to learn whatever they had to teach. Interacting with a holocron wasn’t like calling someone on a holocomm. But of course a lot of knowledge of the Force was needed in order to understand how a holocron worked; second reason to believe he was lying.

But there was something incredibly disturbing in the entire concept that the General had expressed. How much research could he have done in order to know about holocrons? The more recent ones were dated to the Old Republic, and they belonged to some Jedi, while Sith holocrons went back at least a thousand years from what he knew, so they weren’t a subject for everyday conversation that everyone could be informed about. Was it possible that Hux knew more about the Force than he led him to believe? That was a possibility, considering that he knew about details that usually most Force-users ignored.

“Liar.” Kylo said with annoyance, feeling anger starting to rise inside of him. So that was how his night was going, locked in General Hux’s quarters listening to the man while he spoke about treason and tried to feed him lies. He would have made him pay for that!

“I’m not lying, Ren. Do you need solid proof? I won’t show you the holocron, I will never give up that kind of leverage, but I can open my mind to you. You can search my memories, just this once, and you can see it yourself.” Hux offered.

Kylo’s eyes opened wide, and it took a lot of control not to open his mouth too. The bastard, who was so good at keeping him out of his mind, was actually inviting him inside. He wanted the Knight to use his memories as proof that he wasn’t lying, and that was almost impossible to believe. Kylo nodded twice, and Hux nodded once in return. Then he saw the man in front of him relax his body entirely, almost to the point of sagging, with his arms falling along his sides and his eyes shut. For the first time ever, General Hux was standing in front of Kylo Ren without his defenses, like any other ordinary, weak man.

But the real problem was that Hux wasn’t weak at all. He was the strongest non-Force-sensitive person Kylo had ever met or even heard of. Strong enough to resist the might of his full power. And now that person was standing in front of him with his mind wide open. All of his walls, all of his defenses, were gone. He’d trusted Kylo enough to give him access to his precious brain, the part of himself he surely loved the most. He bared himself in front of his enemy, giving the Knight the possibility to do whatever he wanted with that unexpected gift. And Kylo wasn’t a good person, he hadn’t been one in a long time, maybe he’d never been. So he felt the need to invade that mind, search inside of it for Hux’s weaknesses, and then use his power over it to crush the bastard and finally give him what he deserved.

He wanted to make Hux regret the moment he decided to give him permission to enter his mind. But still, at the same time, he couldn’t dare to do it. That mind was beautiful, even if it belonged to Hux, and destroying it was a shame. As the General said before, valuable military assets shouldn’t be wasted. Something that felt disgustingly like respect started to emanate from Kylo towards Hux, but the Knight was doing a great job hiding that disturbing emotion with a concentrated look on his face. Then he raised a hand, sending the Force through the General. He could feel how uncomfortable the man was at the invasion, but he appreciated the fact that Hux was actually keeping his word and letting him look.

Hux pushed forward the memory that Kylo was looking for, and the Knight was able to see the General walk through the vegetation on some random planet and literally stumble on the holocron. He saw the gatekeeper come out, it was a member of the Bith species if he was correct, and actually talk to Hux, give him information about the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis. Then the memory went on, Hux pocketed the holocron and went back to the _Finalizer_ , where he put the object in a Force-isolating box that he hid… Kylo was immediately kicked back out from the General’s mind. In front of him, Hux looked as confident as ever, all of his defenses back in place. Then he really didn’t want Kylo to find the holocron on his own. Pity. But the most important revelation was that the holocron really existed, and it was somewhere on the ship. It was impossible to believe, but Hux wasn’t lying.

“So?” Hux asked, snapping Kylo out of his own thoughts.

“So…” the Knight’s voice was soft, almost uncertain. But then it became stronger and more determined when he said the only thing that made sense after what he’d seen: “I believe you.”

“Will you help me, then?” something that sounded like a little bit of hope permeated from the General’s question.

“Why would I?” was Kylo’s genuine answer “We hate each other, we spend our days trying to make each other’s lives a living hell, and now what? You tell me that my Master wants to kill me and presume I’ll join you in killing him instead, all in exchange for some Sith knowledge? The universe, the Force, don’t work like this.” he lowered his voice until he was almost whispering “ _I_ don’t work like this…”

Hux looked at him again and for a moment he seemed uncertain. Probably for the first time in his entire life, the bastard apparently didn’t know what to say. Only then the Knight saw something new in the General’s eyes. Something that shouldn’t have been there, and that was hurting him more than any wound could have. Hux was _pitying_ him. Like he was some kind of poor little child whose mind had been twisted by a creature of the darkness. Like he was little Ben Solo again, with his mother looking at him with pity while Master Snoke whispered in his head. Ben deserved to be pitied, he was weak and pathetic! But Kylo Ren was strong, he was proud of the man he turned out to be. He didn’t need anyone’s pity, most of all Hux’s!

“Why are you so loyal to him?” Hux asked, that pitying look still on his face “You can gain nothing from this loyalty!”

“He took me in when I was nothing.” Kylo quickly replied, anger showing on his face “And he made me into what I am now!” He didn’t know why he was even bothering to explain any of this to Hux. Like that bastard could understand… Hux understood nothing, the Knight was certain of that.

“And what is it that you are now? You’re his puppet!” a new light, one that Kylo had never seen before, could be found in the General’s eyes when he spat out those words.

The Knight wanted to say something, anything, he wanted to argue. But what was the point? Hux could never understand! The General never went through the kind of pain that he experienced, he never needed Snoke’s help like Kylo did. Master Snoke saved him from being Ben Solo, that was why Kylo Ren couldn’t betray him! So yes, maybe he was the Supreme Leader’s puppet, but that was his place! So he stayed silent, but he sent the Force to the bastard’s throat. He didn’t actually choke Hux, but used the touch as a threat.

He could feel Hux’s discomfort. The General wasn’t stupid, he probably knew that the pressure on his throat was Kylo’s doing. But he still didn’t protest. He just unfastened another button of his uniform, massaged his neck for a moment and cleared his throat before going back to his normal posture. Impressive, he was actually ignoring the menace.

“Come with me, Ren. I’m charming, pleasant to look at, people like me and respect me, I have a way with words and a brilliant mind, and I’m a very good strategist. You are scary, everyone is afraid of you, you’re powerful with the Force and you’re probably the strongest, fiercest and most ruthless warrior I’ll ever lay my eyes on. Can’t you see it? Our skills complement each other. Together you and I can rule the entire galaxy!” Hux offered again; Kylo let go of his throat, there was no point in applying the Force there if it wasn’t preventing the bastard from spitting out nonsense.

“Why? So I can be _your_ puppet? I’d rather die!” the Knight’s face and voice showed exactly how much the General’s words had insulted him. But in the depth of his mind, he couldn’t deny that those same insulting words held a sense of fascination. He’d never thought about their skills that way before. It was true. The strategist and the warrior, one respected and the other feared, both leaders but in very different ways. For just one little moment Kylo let his mind wonder what could have happened if he formed an alliance with a person who complemented his abilities this much. But a second later he was back to reality, where Hux was an ass and he would have _never_ accepted to commit treason with him.

“I don’t want you to be my puppet, I want you to be my enforcer!” Hux said, and his eyes were almost shining in the dim light of the room “Can’t you see it? With Snoke gone, you’ll be the most powerful Force-user in the galaxy! No-one could be able to defeat you, no-one could be able to stop us.”

Kylo kept staring at Hux, uncertain of what to think. General Bastard was oozing confidence, and for some odd reason he didn’t want to take his eyes off him. He knew better than to listen to that man; yet some part of him was actually curious to hear what he had to say, what he had to offer. He recognized that Hux believed in himself more than most people, and he also had a great charisma. Something that, Kylo knew it very well, was a weakness of his own. The Knight wasn’t a charismatic person himself, and he had always ended up following the strongest leader. When he was a child the strongest leader in his life was his mother. Then, growing up, it was his uncle Luke. And since his teenage years the strongest leader of all had been Snoke, Supreme Leader of the First Order and his Master in the ways of the Dark Side of the Force. Kylo had never doubted his loyalty to Snoke, never once in his life since he turned to the Dark Side, but he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to listen to another charismatic figure. He couldn’t stop himself from longing to hear what Hux had to say. And he hated his own weakness for that, because he _knew_ that the General was wrong, but he had lost the will to make him shut up when the bastard let him access his mind.

“I have my own vision of the future of the First Order, and Snoke is not in there. He’s not the kind of person who should lead the strongest army in the galaxy. He’s not the kind of person who should be allowed to rule. The First Order is about bringing peace and stability to the galaxy, but how can Snoke reach this goal? He’s selfish and he only looks for power. He’s blinded by his desire to keep his own life safe, that is more important to him than the wellbeing of the galaxy. Think about it: Darth Plagueis the Wise taught his apprentice everything he knew; in return, his apprentice Darth Sidious killed him in his sleep - or at least he _thought_ he killed him, since he’s still very much alive right now, more than a century later. It’s obvious that someone who experienced that kind of betrayal would be paranoid, considering his strong desire to stay alive. I believe that’s the reason why he put together the Knights of Ren: to do his dirty work and to be his bodyguards.

“From what I understood, Snoke’s desire to stay alive is so strong that he won’t hesitate to sacrifice his most loyal subjects. He won’t hesitate to sacrifice even you, who are the most powerful of them all. Hadn’t he been blinded by his own ego, he would have probably realized that you are more valuable than any ship in our fleet. You have a huge attack power, plus the General leading the Resistance is your _mother_ , meaning that most likely she would never try to hurt you too much. Too good, too caring, I can bet she probably still wants you back. This could be a key element in fighting the Resistance, _you_ could be a key element. And still, Snoke wants you dead because of your power. Because you’re more powerful than him, or at least you have the potential to be. Because he’s afraid he won’t be able to control your power any longer.

“I would never make such a stupid mistake.” the inflection of Hux’s voice was getting stronger, more resolved, and the General’s piercing eyes were staring down at Kylo the same way a predator would look at its prey. The Knight found that he couldn’t look away from the sapphires shining on Hux’s face. That voice and those eyes were glueing him to the spot where he was sitting at the table.

“With Snoke gone, I will become the Supreme Leader of the First Order. And in my hands the Order will rise to its real potential. We will crush what’s left of the weak New Republic, wipe out the Resistance, stop everyone who wants to stand against us. I will be the mind behind the operations and the public face to show to the galaxy; you will be the strength of my army and the reason to fear the First Order. I will grow up to be the greatest Emperor in the history of the galaxy, the first one to really conquer everything there is; you will be by my side, honored like no-one before. You’ll be greater than your beloved grandfather. Darth Sidious was stupid enough to control Darth Vader almost like a slave, and this way he prevented him to use all of his potential. I will never do something like that: I want you to stay beside me and shine, like the powerful being that you are!

“All of our enemies will both fear and respect us, everyone will bow before us! Together we will be invincible!” the more he talked, the more Hux looked like a crazed fanatic. The more Hux looked like a crazed fanatic, the more Kylo was impressed by what he was saying. And then the Knight, without even realizing it, lost himself completely in the General’s words. He was really listening, absorbing every syllable as if they were the only oxygen he needed to breathe. He didn’t even notice that he was holding his breath, nor that both of his hands were clinging to the fabric of his pants with too much strength. His gaze never left Hux, following his every movement; from the way his lips flexed to every gesture his hands made to accompany the speech. He was bewitched by the General’s charisma. Once again he wondered if the bastard was actually such a strong Force-user that he was able to manipulate the Force in a way that not even the Master of the Knights of Ren was able to detect. And once again he told himself it wasn’t possible, but somehow we wished it was, because the truth was even scarier: only a strong use of the Force could enchant people the way Hux did with just the use of his own words.

“So what do you say? Follow me, Kylo Ren, and the entire galaxy will crumble at our feet! And with all of our enemies gone, we will lead the Empire of the First Order to rule over the entire universe!” General Hux’s arms were spread wide open when he finished his speech, his head tilted to look at something above Kylo’s head. It was obvious that the General was so lost in his own monologue that he wasn’t even looking at the Knight anymore, but directly past him. His spread arms were impressive, because they seemed to want to embrace the influence and power Hux was talking about. In Kylo’s mind, those arms were trying to capture all of Hux’s ego, but they were failing miserably, because it was so big that normal human arms could never be able to embrace it entirely. Because Kylo was not stupid, he could easily see the real meaning behind Hux’s desire to become the Emperor: it was obvious that Hux actually wanted Snoke’s power for himself; he probably wanted even more power than Snoke had.

What scared Kylo the most was the thought that he probably deserved it. General Hux was brave enough to defy the Supreme Leader, strong enough to resist Kylo’s use of the Force, clever enough to acquire a damned Sith holocron and conceal it, capable enough to lead the army of the First Order. Why shouldn’t he be allowed to rule over the galaxy? He didn’t want to say those words aloud, it would have been too embarrassing for him, but he wanted to say at least something. So he opened his mouth, let out a long breath and tried to voice some of his thoughts. Nothing came out, though.

Only when Hux’s eyes met his again, Kylo was able to talk.

“I’ll fight for you.” he said, hoping that his face wouldn’t betray too much of what he was feeling. The emotional turmoil inside of him was huge and complex. He was fascinated by that man he despised, to the point that he decided to actually follow him in his crazy plan to take over the universe. At least with his words, he betrayed his Master, the voice that accompanied him since he was a child, teaching him everything he knew about the world. But if what Hux had said was true, probably most of Snoke’s words had been lies anyway. He didn’t know what was true and what wasn’t, and he felt like he could go crazy because of that. His only hope was that the truth would reveal itself to him through the Force by following a different path. By following General Hux.

The pleased smirk on Hux’s face, after hearing his words, meant the world to Kylo Ren. The General was still a pain in the ass, and a real bastard, but he wasn’t his enemy anymore. He was probably the first real ally he’d ever had in his entire life.

***

Standing on the bridge of the _Finalizer_ , looking at the stars outside the ship, General Hux was entirely lost in his own thoughts. Only a week had passed since his late night meeting with Kylo Ren, yet many things had changed. He wasn’t plotting alone anymore, he had an ally. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Ren one hundred percent, but he had no other choice. After revealing his plan to him, after telling him everything he wanted to achieve, there was no going back. He would have either succeeded in reaching his goal or died trying. But the fact that Ren hadn’t tried to kill him was satisfactory enough for the moment. It meant that the Knight was actually going to be on his side.

It was an odd feeling, knowing that Kylo Ren was actually following his lead for once. After working together for a few years, for the first time the Knight of Ren had stopped arguing with his every decision. The morale of the crew was slowly rising again, because for an entire week there had not been any equipment destructions or personnel deaths. They’d been also able to exploit the information they got from the prisoner they captured during the assault to the Resistance freighters, leading a successful surprise attack to a small base that weakened the Resistance a little bit more. Everything was going smoothly.

Even if everything was working just fine, Hux couldn’t stop thinking about his conversation with Ren a week before. The entire evening kept replaying itself in his mind every time he wasn’t concentrated on strategic plans, leaving him with a bittersweet aftertaste every time. Because the success had exceeded his expectations, but he couldn’t deny that it had been the scariest day of his entire life.

He’d been nervous while he was waiting for Ren’s arrival, and the fact that the Knight arrived half an hour late hadn’t been a great help for his nerves. After Ren’s arrival, all he could think about was securing the area, so that nobody could disturb them or catch on any part of their conversation. What he could have never expected was that Ren had misinterpreted his actions, thinking that he was going to declare his love. When the Knight had the actual guts to say those words aloud, it had been like feeling the entire world crumble around Hux. Thinking back to that moment, he still wanted to turn as red as his hair and scream. Of course he’d been able to display a better reaction to that comment, but he still was feeling insulted because someone thought he could ever be in love with such an insufferable human being.

After the initial shock, Hux was able to follow the plan he had accurately devised in advance. Explaining things to Ren hadn’t been easy, but at least he’d been able to convince the man-child that he was telling the truth. And the Knight had most likely believed him, considering he was still alive and well after the conversation. But the fact that he came out of the meeting unscratched didn’t mean that he hadn’t been in danger the entire time. Ren’s usual displays on anger were concerning, when they were locked in a room together talking about committing treason. It would have been so simple for Ren to just choke him to death and report his ideas to Snoke in order to give an explanation for his actions. But luckily the Knight hadn’t gone any further than threatening his throat.

What Hux hadn’t been expecting at all - and he had to admit, it gave him a lot of satisfaction - was to see actual admiration towards him in Ren’s eyes. He’d been able not only to secure his strategy with the perfect ally, but he probably gained a fierce bodyguard in the process. Even if, to be honest, for the first two nights after the conversation he’d had nightmares about the Knight of Ren entering his quarters in the dark to kill him in his sleep. They’d been just nightmares, though. The Knight had actually started to respect him, even in front of others, changing the General’s life for the better. The _Finalizer_ was easier to command if there wasn’t a monster in a mask running wild and acting as he pleased.

From the viewport on the bridge of the ship, Hux could see the stars outside. One day, soon enough, everything he was seeing would have belonged to him. He would have been the Emperor, and the entire universe would have been his Empire. He had to pay dearly to reach that goal, but it was worth the price. In order to be Emperor he needed Kylo Ren by his side. And in order to have Kylo Ren, he needed the Knight to trust him. That was the only reason why he allowed that man to enter his mind, to search through his memories. That was the first time Ren read his mind, and it hadn’t been pleasant. Actually, it’d been uncomfortable and slightly humiliating. Moreover, the Knight had the possibility to do whatever he pleased with Hux’s mind, while the General was keeping it open for him. It’d been a miracle that Ren only looked at the memories without trying any fancy tricks. If he’d tried to manipulate the General in that moment, he would have succeeded. So Hux had to feel lucky for being safe, with all of his memories and without any ideas in his head that didn’t belong to him.

Another unpleasant situation that Hux had lived that night was when Ren threatened to choke him. He could never forget the pressure on his throat, so similar to the one he experienced that day in his office when he actually stopped breathing while keeping the Knight out of his mind. He remembered acting cool in front of Ren, keeping the concentration on what he was saying and not giving up to the intimidation. He’d just unfastened a button of the uniform and massaged his neck, not showing any signs of what was actually going on inside his head. But the truth was that, in that precise moment, he was terrified. Luckily he was a good actor - he would have been dead a long time ago if he wasn’t - so he’d been able to hide his emotions as much as possible. He was positive that Ren had no idea of the impact his actions had on him; if he’d known, he probably wouldn’t have submitted to Hux so easily.

But in the end, everything worked fine. He had a perfect plan, one that could not fail, and Ren was on board with it. Together they would have been able to kill Snoke and conquer the entire galaxy, ruling together. Well, _Hux_ would have ruled, the Knight would have been more like a lackey to do the dirty work. After all, the General couldn’t care less of what happened to Kylo Ren. He still despised that man! He only thought of Ren as a very powerful pawn to use in order to reach his goal, nothing more than that. No emotional attachment, no disgusting feelings like friendship or companionship. Everything between them was strictly professional, maybe even a little selfish on his part.

General Hux didn’t care about Kylo Ren. At all. The only reason why he wanted the Knight alive was to kill Snoke for him. Nothing else. And the only reason why he wanted this murder to be as soon as possible was because he couldn’t wait to be crowned Emperor, no further motives. It wasn’t, of course, because he feared Snoke might kill Ren if they weren’t quick enough. Because, of course, he didn’t care about Ren at all. Or at least that was what he kept repeating to himself. But the truth was that somewhere, below several layers of hatred and plotting, the General could feel a slightly unpleasant sensation at the thought that Snoke could kill his own apprentice. It was new and difficult to understand, for someone like Hux who thought that attachment was the doom of the human race. But he dismissed the thought as concern about his plans and nothing more.

***

After the destruction of _Starkiller Base_ , Hux had to retrieve an injured Kylo Ren and deliver him to Snoke. That’d been the only time he saw the Supreme Leader in person. They met on a deserted planet, where the General had a private conversation with Snoke before watching him leave with Ren. From that he understood that his leader didn’t live there, but somewhere else in the galaxy. That was the reason why he didn’t know where to find Snoke in order to kill him. But the Knight of Ren had spent a lot of time with his Master in his fortress, so Ren knew where they could find Snoke when the moment came to kill him.

They spent days plotting together, devising the perfect plan to fight him and defeat him. And when everything was ready, they set the course of the _Finalizer_ towards the coordinates that Ren had previously communicated. No-one else knew that they were going to Snoke’s planet, because telling the crew they were going to kill the Supreme Leader would have been a very stupid move. And of course Hux was wiser than that. Telling the personnel came _after_ succeeding, in the General’s list of priorities. So everyone aboard the ship was completely oblivious of where they were going and why. Only Hux and Ren knew.

The plan was simple. They would have reached the system where Snoke’s planet was, leaving the _Finalizer_ close to the planets but not enough to make the Supreme Leader feel threatened. From there, they would have taken Ren’s command shuttle to land in front of Snoke’s fortress, in order to take him by surprise. Only the two of them could land on that planet, because they trusted no-one else with their plan. Everything was perfectly calculated, and every detail was scheduled. The entire plan was Hux’s idea, so there was no way anything could go wrong. But of course they didn’t realize that they were counting their chicken before they hatched.

The first part of the plan went smoothly. The _Finalizer_ reached the system and stopped. The crew was informed that General Hux and Kylo Ren had a mission on a nearby planet, and that Captain Phasma was going to be in control of the ship until their return. Then the two of them boarded Ren’s command shuttle and left from the main hangar. Only a few low ranking officers came to see them off, since they didn’t want to put too much emphasis on their mission. Once the mission was completed with success, they would have requested for every high ranking officer on the ship to welcome them back. But at that time, even if they were confident about their strategy, they didn’t want to proclaim their victory too soon.

They landed on a planet that most people would have considered uninhabitable. Hux wondered how it was possible that there actually was oxygen to breathe. While planning the mission, he listened to Ren’s information on the planet for hours, thinking about a way to use the planet’s conformation to their advantage. But he found no way to do that: he would have always been the one at a disadvantage there. Snoke of course knew the planet well, and even if the Knight had lived there too for some time, he didn’t know its every secret like the Supreme Leader did. So taking the fight outside was a terrible idea. That was the reason why they needed to get immediately from their ship to the inside of the fortress, catching Snoke by surprise before he could try to escape. Once on the outside, in the open air of the planet, they had close to no chance to win the battle.

There was no-one outside the fortress. From Ren’s reports, the General knew that Snoke only used guards when he felt threatened for some reason. He usually called on two or more of the Knights of Ren, and when they were too far to join him he used entire platoons of stormtroopers. When he used the troopers, he killed them as soon as they weren’t useful to him anymore. From what the Knight had told him, Hux knew that during the time Snoke spent completing Ren’s training he only felt threatened once: it had been when Ren got sick and lost control of his powers, and in that occasion the Supreme Leader had been guarded full time by the entire group of the Knights of Ren in rotation. Apparently that was how much he feared his apprentice’s power.

The fact that the fortress wasn’t guarded meant that Snoke didn’t see them coming. If he did, they probably would have been met by the Knights of Ren as soon as they landed on the planet. Instead, they started walking along the large and empty hallways without encountering a single soul. Not even small animals and insects could be found inside the fortress. Ren told him it was because even they feared Snoke. Hux wasn’t sure if he believed that story, but not finding any spiders in a place so full of dust made him think that maybe the Knight had been right.

Hux had planned everything so that the two of them didn’t have to talk while inside the fortress. Ren had drawn a map with the shortest way to walk from the entrance to the throne room, that was the place where Snoke could be found whenever he wasn’t asleep. And since he meditated a lot, he didn’t need much sleep at all. So there was no need to prepare plans to look for the Supreme Leader in other areas of the fortress, because he would have been for sure inside the throne room. The General was carrying on his datapad the map that Ren had drawn, so that he could be able to frequently check on it along the way. He knew he didn’t need it, because he’d memorized it before their departure, but just in case he got separated from the Knight for some reason he wanted to be prepared.

They were sure that Snoke could never suspect about their arrival because they were both very good at keeping their own thoughts private. Hux’s mind was impenetrable: he was sure that the apprentice was stronger than his Master, so resisting to Ren’s mind reading meant that he could have easily resisted to Snoke’s too. He’d never felt a mind intrusion from Snoke, so he was sure that the Supreme Leader had never tried to read his mind. Of course there was still the possibility that they entirely underestimated Snoke’s powers, that Snoke was so powerful that he could easily read Hux’s mind without the General even knowing he was doing it. If that was the case, they were both dead men for even trying to go against such a creature. So all Hux needed to do was to hope that the most unlikely possibility wasn’t the correct one.

While they were walking, their boots echoed on the durasteel floor at every step. That was the only sound in the air. They only communicated with their hands, pointing at what they wanted to mention. Hux extended his right hand to indicate a corridor on the left. Ren put his left hand on the General’s arm to make it lower, then moved the hand on Hux’s chest to make him understand he had to stop. The Knight, then, lowered his head and concentrated. After a few seconds, he used his hands to signal that everything was clear. Only then the two of them resumed walking, turing around that corner.

Checking every hallway before walking into it, it took a lot of time to reach the throne room. But they wanted to be certain that everything was safe before proceeding, and that was the reason why they were probably more cautious than needed. When they finally reached their destination, they stopped outside the closed door. Hux looked at Ren, standing on his right, waiting for a confirmation. The Knight concentrated once again and then nodded. The General knew that nodding at that moment in time meant that Snoke was inside the room. Everything, then, was going as planned.

Hux took out his blaster. He knew perfectly well that shooting wasn’t going to kill the Supreme Leader, but he didn’t feel safe without a weapon in his hands. In addition to that, maybe a few blaster shots could have distracted the enemy long enough for Ren to take advantage of it in the fight. By his side, the Knight took out his lightsaber, but he kept it off. Just by looking at Ren, he could almost feel how concentrated he was, even if the mask prevented him to see the Knight’s face. For a moment they nodded at each other, just to confirm that everything was ready and that the plan could start. Then Ren raised his hands and flung the double door open.

They stood in the doorway, while the old-style steel doors remained wide open. In front of them was a large room with only a throne in the back. There were no windows and the lights were low. In front of the throne, around thirty feet away from the entrance door, Snoke was standing on his feet, a lightsaber in his right hand. He was patiently waiting for them. They’d been so cautious, so careful, yet the Supreme Leader knew of their arrival and was waiting for them. For the first time since they left the Finalizer, Hux was afraid to die. With Ren by his side he’d felt invincible, but with Snoke armed and confident a few feet away, he started to doubt all of his plans.

“Well, well, General. Looks like you turned my apprentice against me. Your plan was perfect, you only forgot one small detail: since Kylo was born, I’ve always been inside his head. I know everything he knows. I’ve been waiting for your arrival.” Snoke said to greet them.

The Supreme Leader seemed to be calm, almost amused by the situation. Such a reaction only worried Hux more. If Snoke wasn’t concerned, then it meant that they weren’t such a threat to him. All he could do, at that point, was to hope that the Sith had underestimated Ren’s power. Only then they stood a chance of winning the battle. And if they lost it, they would have died in a very slow and painful way. There was no way to fully understand if Snoke’s confidence stood on solid ground or not, with the exception of trying to overpower him. And in order to do that, they had to stay calm and think before taking any actions. So the General turned towards Ren to tell him exactly that. He wanted to let the Knight know that, if they acted without any rush, they still had the possibility to defeat their enemy. But he was too late.

“You bastard, stay out of my head and die!” Ren was yelling, his lightsaber powered on.

And before Hux could do anything to stop him, Ren started running towards Snoke. He wanted to shout at him, tell him to stop, but at that point it would have probably been worse. He couldn’t afford to distract the Knight in such a delicate moment. All he could do was to stay there and hold on tight to his blaster, hoping that there would be no need to use it at all. He was an excellent shot, but something like that meant nothing when the enemy was able to manipulate the Force. Firing his weapon could only give him a chance to be hit by it, and that was the reason why he preferred not to use it.

The General tried to stay calm, keeping his mind focused on the battle. He never took his eyes off Ren and Snoke fighting. The Knight was moving with grace, like some kind of deadly animal. He seemed to be more dangerous than ever, fueled by anger. But notwithstanding this, he wasn’t dealing any serious blows to the enemy. Snoke was crumpled and he looked like he was going to die of old age any moment, but he could still move very well with a lightsaber in his hands. He was quicker than expected, enough to dodge most of Ren’s attacks and parry the others. After several minutes none of them had been hit once. They looked like they were dancing around each other without any real intention of hurting the other. But Hux knew very well that they were both trying their best to win the battle, to kill their opponent. They were just perfectly even.

Hux almost thought they were going to win when Ren was able to hit Snoke with his lightsaber. But then he realized that the saber only did a small cut on the Sith’s robes, without actually hitting him. Probably, though, the Knight lost his concentration the moment he almost hurt his enemy. In that moment the Supreme Leader of the First Order took advantage of the situation, parrying a slash and hitting Ren in the stomach with the hilt of his lightsaber. When the Knight struggled to breath, Snoke used the Force to hit him hard and throw him to the ground. Before Ren was able to stand back up, he was hit by the lightning created by the Dark Side of the Force. That forced him to stay on the ground.

From where he stood, the General could not understand if his ally had lost consciousness or not. He looked at the body on the ground, then he turned towards the man still standing not too far from him. Snoke slowly brought his attention from Ren to Hux, and only then the General realized he was alone. Ren had been defeated, and he alone could do nothing against such an enemy. Hux could start considering himself a dead man.

“Ren! Ren, stand up!” he yelled, turning again to face the Knight. There was no movement from the man on the ground.

“He can’t help you now. It’s just you and me, General Hux.” Snoke said, his voice aimed to humiliate Hux.

Not knowing what else to do, Hux raised his blaster and shot three times. He knew better than to do something that stupid, but panic was starting to get the best of him. He didn’t know what else to do, and he had to try something while waiting for Ren to wake up and start fighting again. Snoke only needed to wave a hand in order to send the blast shots flying towards the wall on his left. Exactly as the General had anticipated long before, no-one could kill Snoke by walking inside his throne room and shooting at him. By doing such a thing, Hux had probably signed his death sentence. Not that it would make such a difference, since he was going to die anyway for trying to commit high treason.

For a moment his defense faltered, while he worked on a new strategy to use in order to survive. That was more than enough for Snoke to enter his mind. The intrusion was different from anything he’d ever experienced before. When Ren had entered his mind to search his memories, he’d been gentle, so the intrusion had been uncomfortable but not painful. Snoke, on the other hand, wasn’t trying to peacefully read his mind, but to destroy it. So the intrusion was sudden and painful, as destructive as a tank breaking down a paper wall. All the hurt he’d ever experienced in his life immediately surfaced back to his mind, and his body could feel all of that pain together.

It was too much. Hux thought he was going to die any moment. He actually _wanted_ to die, just to make the pain stop. For the first time in his life he felt weak and he didn’t even care about it. Snoke was quickly driving him crazy, to the point that he couldn’t think straight anymore. He didn’t care about Ren, still lying on the ground. He didn’t care about the First Order, about his beloved _Finalizer_. He didn’t care about his own life anymore. He felt like his brain was going to explode, and he didn’t even realize when he’d fallen to the floor. He just stayed there, lying with both of his hands on his head, grasping his red hair tightly, screaming in pain.

***

Everything hurt. Kylo was barely conscious, and he felt pain in every limb of his body when he tried to move. He could hear Hux screaming, but it was so far away that he wasn’t even sure if he was actually imagining the whole thing. For a moment he tried to think of the situation he was in, and only then he realized that probably the General was actually screaming, if he thought he could hear him. It could only mean one thing: after knocking him down, Snoke had passed on to the next enemy. And Hux wasn’t a Force-user, he was better than any other normal person Kylo knew but he still was a normal person after all. There was no way he could survive an attack from Snoke.

The Knight of Ren knew perfectly well that he needed to stand up and resume the fighting, if he wanted Hux to survive. At first he considered falling asleep and resting to recover from his injuries, leaving the General out there to die. After all, why should he care about Hux? But then, on second thoughts, Kylo remembered the time he’d spent with the General while planning that attack. They’d shared meals together, spent entire nights talking politely to each other. He’d found a good comrade in Hux, someone he wasn’t so eager to lose. In addition to that, he knew perfectly well that a mind like the General’s was too rare to let Snoke destroy it. He needed Hux alive if he wanted his betrayal of his Master to make any sense. And in addition to that, for reasons he couldn’t explain even to himself, Kylo actually _wanted_ General Hux to stay alive.

The thought of wanting Hux alive gave Kylo a lot of newfound energy. He reopened his eyes and tried to focus them on the room. His attention was caught immediately by the General, who was lying on the ground screaming. He seemed to be in so much pain that he didn’t even look like Hux. And it was such a pity, because Hux usually looked good. Not that Kylo was willing to admit it, of course. But he still wanted to help the General, in order to see him go back to his usual self. And thinking of that the Knight roared of rage and jumped to his feet.

In a moment, he was on Snoke again, trying to hit him with his lightsaber. His former Master was quick to defend himself, raising his own saber in order to parry the attacking blows. But, Kylo was more than happy to notice, having to quickly protect himself forced the Supreme Leader of the First Order to concentrate entirely on that task. It meant that he had to stop using the Force to mentally torture Hux, who was slowly stopping to scream in agony. _Very good_ , Kylo thought. He’d been able to save General Hux, at least for the time being. But he couldn’t let his mind slip away, because every little loss of concentration might get them both killed. He had to stay focused on his battle with Snoke if he wanted to win.

While fighting, the Knight could see with the corner of his eyes that Hux was still on the ground. He was moving a little, so he was probably conscious, but he wasn’t even trying to get up. Was something wrong? He knew perfectly well that the middle of his duel with Snoke wasn’t the perfect time to start worrying about the General, so he decided to do something about it. While keeping most of his strength intact, to use in the fight, the concentrated part of his power in his own mind. He used that power to manipulate the Force around Hux, trying to send his own consciousness inside the General’s mind. He found no obstacles. That alone was enough to understand how much damage Snoke had done.

Entering Hux’s mind, Kylo could feel his pain. He dodged two attacks, then he jumped and tried to attack Snoke from above, but his blow was blocked and he landed badly on his right knee. Then his former Master launched forward again, and more than ever the Knight of Ren wished that the situation was different. He wished he didn’t care about the General lying on the ground. In that moment, feeling Hux’s pain was not helping him in the fight against Snoke. Yet he couldn’t just retreat from the General’s mind and leave him there on the floor. He couldn’t exit Hux’s mind before being certain that his only ally was fine. He needed to stay there, he needed to make sure that everything was okay. Because it was true, fighting like that wasn’t easy, but keeping up the duel while thinking that Hux might be dying any moment would have been way more difficult.

He realized that Hux’s head was spinning, giving him a sense of nausea. Kylo was starting to feel it too, and it wasn’t the best sensation in a moment like that. So the Knight tried to separate his consciousness from the General’s enough to stop experiencing the same symptoms Hux had. But once he’d started feeling so close to his ally, it was difficult for him to get away. He realized that Hux had trouble breathing, and he wished he could help somehow. For an instant Kylo even thought about kneeling beside Hux and helping him sit, using the Force to make him feel better. But as soon as it came that thought was gone: he was in the middle of a fight with Snoke, a single moment of distraction and he was a dead man. So instead of reaching for Hux, Kylo got out of his mind, dedicating all of his concentration to his enemy.

The moment he left Hux’s mind, Kylo felt something strange. It was something he used to experience a lot when Ben Solo was a child, when he wanted to spend time with his mother but she kept leaving him, because work was more important than her own son. What he didn’t understand was why he should have felt that kind of loneliness just by pulling out of General Hux’s head. That sensation gave the Knight a few seconds of weakness. Snoke took advantage of it, getting closer to Kylo and attacking with both hands on his lightsaber. When Kylo quickly blocked the blow, his former Master moved his left hand and put it on top of the Knight’s helmet.

Kylo wasn’t rapid enough to get away. He could feel Snoke manipulating the Force around him, entering his head with more strength than ever. Memories came back to him from his childhood, when little Ben was crying on the floor of his bedroom and the voice in his head was whispering that everything was going to be alright. More memories surfaced, memories of Snoke helping him from afar when he was a kid, reassuring him when he was afraid or confused. His Master had always been there for him, ever since he was able to remember. It wasn’t possible that things had changed so much lately. Of course Snoke was on his side, as he had always been.

Memories of Hux came then, starting with the first time they met. They’d never been able to cooperate, sometimes even to communicate with each other on the most basic level. They’d been like enemies the entire time they had to work together for the good of the First Order. They hated each other. General Hux was a selfish bastard who only used others in order to achieve his goals. Thinking about it, it was obvious that Hux had been manipulating him too. Because he had no reason at all to turn against his Master, who’d always been so good to him. Hux was the enemy, not Snoke. Snoke was the ally, his only ally.

Kylo felt betrayed. For some reason he couldn’t remember at the moment, he’d trusted Hux. But his Master helped him to see the truth, as he always did, and the Knight of Ren was ready to make the bastard pay for what he did. He turned towards the General, ready to attack. Strong anger was getting the best of him, but he remained perfectly still. He was a good apprentice, he wasn’t going to move without his Master’s permission. So he waited, looking like a caged animal ready to strike. His eyes were on Hux, who was still lying on the floor, his chin pressed against his chest so that he could see the Knight in front of him.

“Good, Kylo. Now kill General Hux and bring me his head.” Snoke commanded, and Kylo didn’t need anything more before launching forward with the power of a TIE fighter entering light speed.

“Ren! What the hell are you doing? Stop, Ren, stop!” Hux yelled, panic in his voice. So strange, that was the first time he’d ever seen the General that way. He didn’t even think Hux could be afraid of anything. Good to know, the bastard was afraid of _him_.

When he was towering above Hux, he stopped. He sneered behind his mask, satisfied by what he’d just learned. Very good, after wanting it for years, he was finally going to kill General Hux. And he was going to do it while watching his worse enemy look at him with fear.

“Oh, Hux, I hate you so much. I’m so glad that I finally get to kill you!” Kylo said, and even with the voice modulator of his mask it was possible to understand how sadistically happy he was.

“No, you don’t want that! Look at me, Ren. Focus on me. Remember all the time we spent talking about this moment. Can’t you see it? Snoke is manipulating you. You don’t want to kill me! You want to kill _him_.” Hux tried again, and that time his voice started to get steadier. He was still afraid, but he was probably trying his best not to show it.

“You’re nothing more than a liar. I would never betray my Master. You are my enemy!” the Knight was getting more furious by the second.

“I’m not your enemy, Ren. Please, try to remember! Think about _me_. The time we spent together without arguing. I’m not your enemy, Ren. I’m your… _friend_.” Hux was talking fast, like if he wanted to get that over with quickly. And what he said… those words…

 _Friend_. He said that he was Kylo’s friend. Was he? That word was able to hit the Knight’s consciousness, and for a second Snoke’s manipulation started faltering. A moment he felt hatred towards Hux, and desire to make his Master proud, and the next he was loyal to the General, and he wanted the Supreme Leader dead. He didn’t know what to think anymore, he couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. Hux was on the floor below him, afraid to die, while his Master was behind him, eager to see him kill their shared enemy. Out loud, Hux was talking to him in order to make him remember that they were working together. Inside his head, however, Snoke was giving him orders, telling him that he was the only reason why Kylo was still alive in the first place. And both voices felt so real, yet one of them was lying. The problem was that he couldn’t understand which one, and it was driving him crazy.

Kylo brought both hands to his helmet, deactivating his lightsaber. He started shaking his head, while both Hux and Snoke were trying to convince him to do something. He had no idea what to do, because what the General was saying reminded him of some good moments, but it was so unlikely that it probably wasn’t true. His Master, on the other hand, had always been there for him, since he was a child, so of course Snoke was the one telling the truth. And Kylo wanted to obey his Master, kill General Hux and make that horrible confusion stop. But his hesitation was making his head hurt too much, he thought it might have exploded any moment. So he took off the helmet and let it fall to the ground. Then he buried both hands in his dark hair and closed his eyes.

“Hux is my enemy! I need to kill my enemy!” Kylo said, shaking his head again. He still had problems keeping his mind concentrated on what was the right thing to do.

“Ren, look at me, please! I’m not your enemy! Snoke is your enemy!” Hux tried again, and Kylo could feel the panic coming back stronger in his voice.

“Kill him Kylo, KILL HIM!” his Master commanded out loud.

The Knight was still unsure of what to do, his head was hurting like hell, and both versions of the truth sounded perfectly real. He was conflicted, torn apart, yet his body started to move on its own. Doing what his Master said felt normal to him, a habit he’d always had. So when Snoke yelled his order, Kylo reactivated his lightsaber and reopened his eyes. He grabbed the hilt with both hands and raised his arms over his head. He was ready to administer the killing blow.

“Please, REN!” General Hux yelled again, too scared to die to even keep his eyes open.

And those last words were exactly what he needed to regain his consciousness. It was like being hit by a bucket of cold water, a very unpleasant sensation that made him shiver. But he was finally back to reality, perfectly able to recognize what was real and what wasn’t. Hux was his ally, the one who devised the perfect plan to rule the galaxy together. He was _real_. Snoke, on the other hand, was about to betray him, was going to get him killed, because he’d never really been on his side. He _wasn’t_ real. Snoke was the enemy, Hux was the ally. His _friend_ , as the General himself had said. And Kylo couldn’t let his friend die.

 _Hux!_ he thought. So he stopped, just a second before striking a fatal blow. He knelt, taking a hand off his still raised lightsaber to reach for Hux’s arm. He needed to touch him, in order to make sure that he was okay. Kylo needed proof that he hadn’t managed to hurt the General while he was under Snoke’s control. He could feel Hux shift uncomfortably when he tried to touch him, and it only made him angrier. General Hux was the bravest person he’d ever met, and the Knight didn’t want to see him demonstrate so much fear. And what made Kylo even angrier was the thought that _he_ was the one Hux was afraid of. He’d spent years longing for something like that to happen, but when his ally recoiled from his reassuring touch he realized that he’d never want to see that again.

“It’s okay, I promise.” he whispered, hoping to calm Hux down without Snoke hearing his words “I will protect you. No-one will hurt you again.” _Ever!_ he added in his mind, but he thought it was wiser not to say that out loud.

Only then he stood back up, turning to face Snoke. He positioned his feet exactly in front of Hux, in order to shield him from their common enemy. Snoke was still trying to convince him to kill the General, but when he moved to attack position his former Master realized that he’d failed. He hadn’t been able to manipulate Kylo, not that time. And the Knight could see the rage manifest on Snoke’s disfigured face. Then the Supreme Leader of the First Order extended both arms in front of him, and concentrated on the Dark Side of the Force in order to send lightning towards his former apprentice.

Kylo saw the attack coming, but he didn’t know how to deflect it. So he closed his eyes and let the Force guide his movements. He concentrated the Force on his lightsaber, and then he raised his weapon and used it to block the attack. His unstable saber flickered in a dangerous way, but it absorbed the power of Snoke’s attack and sent it back to him. The Knight didn’t know how that was possible, since he’d never seen that kind of power before Snoke decided to use it on him a few minutes before. He didn’t know how that particular power of the Dark Side worked, but it appeared that it could be deflected by a lightsaber with the help of the Force.

Snoke didn’t see that coming. Kylo could see the surprise in his eyes when the lightning came back to its sender. Once again his former Master was underestimating him, and that was going to be the last time. Not taking the Master of the Knights of Ren seriously was going to cost Supreme Leader Snoke his life. That was what Kylo was thinking when the lightning hit Snoke in the chest, paralyzing him for several seconds. Not knowing that specific power, Kylo didn’t know exactly how much damage the attack had caused to his enemy. But he immediately realized that it was probably a lot of damage, because Snoke wasn’t able to move at all.

He decided to take advantage of the situation, and when the lightning stopped coming, he jumped forward and landed in Snoke’s personal space. Two quick blows, and he chopped off his former Master’s arms at the biceps. The now mutilated Supreme Leader screamed because of the pain, and Kylo could feel the adrenaline rush through his body. He was causing suffering to his enemy, and it felt so good. He needed more, he needed to feel more of that power that came with the knowledge of being the one to decide if one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy would live or die.

The high was incredible, and Kylo just went with it. He moved his lightsaber again, stabbing Snoke where he knew the liver was, then again in the stomach. At last, he administered the killing blow to the heart, keeping the lightsaber in place until he saw the light leave Snoke’s eyes. He only deactivated his weapon when he was sure that his former Master was dead. The moment he turned the lightsaber off, the body fell to the ground, landing on top of its severed arms.

Kylo looked at his handiwork and smiled. He succeeded. He was free of the man who had controlled his every action his entire life. He’d killed the one he considered to be the strongest Force-user in the galaxy, meaning that most likely _he_ was the strongest Force-user now. He felt invincible, indestructible. He won, and now he was going to rule the galaxy with the man who made it all possible. Still smiling, he turned towards Hux. The General was weak, but he was standing up on shaky legs, looking at Kylo. Even if he was just a normal human, he looked glorious in that moment. Every sign of his previous fear was entirely gone, and the General Hux now standing in front of Kylo was confident and excited. That was exactly the Hux he admired, the one he wanted to see.

So Kylo didn’t even think about what he was doing. He walked towards Hux and stopped in front of him, dropping on one knee and bowing his head. In the meantime, he used the Force to pick up Snoke’s body and make it fluctuate beside him. He made the body stop by his side, right in front of the General.

“My Emperor, your Knight presents you with the body of your enemy.” he said, because it felt like the right thing to do.

And then he raised his head to look at Hux. He could see happiness and pride in those blue eyes. His mental barrier was back, so Kylo wasn’t able to enter his mind and see what he was thinking, but just looking at him he could say for sure that he was pleased. The soon-to-be Emperor stayed like that for an entire minute, and the Knight couldn’t stop looking at him from where he was kneeling. Then Hux talked.

“Can I have your lightsaber for a moment?” he asked, extending his right arm towards Kylo “There’s something I need to do.”

Kylo put up a questioning look. Why would Hux need his lightsaber? Then fear struck him for a moment. Was his ally actually going to betray him? Was Hux going to kill him, now that he’d eliminated Snoke? No, Hux had seemed so sincere when he’d said that he wanted the Knight of Ren by his side once he became Emperor. Then why should he want to kill his loyal guard? It made no sense at all! But if Hux didn’t want the lightsaber to kill him, then what did he want it for? Kylo was actually curious to find out what was going to happen. So he slowly put his deactivated lightsaber in Hux’s hand and waited, ready to react in case of an incoming attack.

What happened, though, was really surprising. Hux put both hands on the hilt of the lightsaber and activated it. At the red light of the saber, his face looked scary and his eyes were those of a psychopath. His lips were stretched in what looked like and evil grin. And then, without any warning, Hux moved. He was quick and precise, like he’d been trained to use a sword before - and he’d been, probably. Without hesitation, he swung the lightsaber, his face contracted with rage and something that looked like pure madness. With a neat cut, almost growling for the effort, he severed Snoke’s head from the rest of the body.

The head bounced once on the floor and rolled towards Kylo, stopping when it hit his boot. The Knight moved his gaze alternately between Hux and the severed head. Then it remained on the General, when the man dropped the now deactivated lightsaber and started a crazy laugh. He could feel the confidence and power radiating from Hux’s body. He was clearly happy, satisfied, excited, proud. But what Kylo couldn’t stop to think about was the way his ally had cut off Snoke’s head. He’d never been a normal person, he knew that very well, and he’d always liked violence more than anyone he knew, but to see a scene like that… it turned him on. And he knew that it was probably a sick thought, but he could feel the arousal spread through his body and make his cock hard.

His admiration towards Hux was quickly turning into lust, and he couldn’t do anything about it. Kylo had never been the kind of person to like men or women specifically, he just liked powerful people. And in that moment he thought that no-one in the entire universe could ever look more powerful than Hux. He wanted that man to dominate him, to fuck him with the same might he used to chop off Snoke’s head. He wanted to bend for Hux, to submit to that man while calling him _Emperor_. In the past few days he’d had doubts about what he was going to do after Snoke’s death, if he was really going to stay by Hux’s side and protect him, but in that moment every doubt he’d ever had was gone. He wanted Hux like he’d never wanted anything before, so there was nothing in the entire galaxy with the power to keep him away from his Emperor.

***

Flying back to the _Finalizer_ didn’t take long, just a few minutes, but to Hux the journey had been endless. Snoke was dead, he had succeeded. He was sitting in the copilot’s seat, staring at his own hands on his lap. On his left, Ren was piloting the shuttle. From the corner of his eye, he could see the Knight looking at him; he wasn’t wearing his mask.

“Are you okay?” was Ren’s sudden question, his voice not concerned nor mocking, just plain neutral.

“Of course I am!” he replied, showing how much that question had insulted him.

But he was lying. Hux wasn’t fine at all. Everything from the moment he chopped off Snoke’s head had felt different. He wasn’t just the General of the First Order anymore. He was supposed to take the Supreme Leader’s place, to guide the First Order into its glorious future. That was everything he wanted, everything he’d planned. But even if he’d been preparing himself for this for a long time, he felt like he wasn’t prepared at all.

Hux knew very well what he needed to do. They were going back to the _Finalizer_ , from where he would have given a speech to the entire Order to announce Snoke’s death and his knew role. He’d been planning that move for a long time, he’d even memorized the speech he wanted to use, yet it didn’t make things easier. And if he was so nervous about talking to the First Order, he didn’t even want to think about how he could feel when the time would come to talk to the New Republic!

“You don’t look okay, you look sick.” Ren said again, and that time his voice was worried. Hux raised his head to look at the man, rage showing on his features.

“I said I’m fine, Ren. Mind your own business!” he almost yelled “Now the _Finalizer_ is in sight, prepare for landing.”

And with those words he stood up and started to walk away, only to stop after taking a couple of steps. He knew better than to stand during the landing, so he immediately found somewhere else to sit. He decided in the end to sit down on one of the back seats, near the door to exit the cockpit. From there he could see the Knight turning his head to face forward again. Hux couldn’t see him very well from that position, but he had the impression that Ren looked offended, almost sad. He also thought he could hear him mutter something that seemed like “Yes, Emperor…” with no sentiment at all.

Hux didn’t feel bad for Ren after seeing his reaction. He had no reason to feel bad, after all. The Knight was nothing more than a pawn to him, he did’t mean anything more. So he had no reason to feel bad for snapping like that. They were just two people working together towards he same goal, it wasn’t like they were friends or anything. Of course, while facing Snoke he said he was Ren’s friend, but he hadn’t meant it. It was just an act. In that moment he’d been so afraid to die, to see his project fail, that he’d been ready to say pretty much anything in order to have his ally back. He lied when he said he was Ren’s friend. Because he loathed that child of a man, there was no way he could ever experience any positive feelings towards him.

He kept that in mind while they landed back on the _Finalizer_. As soon as the shuttle landed on the durasteel floor, Hux lowered the ramp and got out. Ren was following, just a few steps behind him, his mask back on. All of the high ranking officers aboard the flagship where waiting for them in the main hangar, right outside the command shuttle. They didn’t know what happened, but during the flight back they were informed to greet the returning commanders upon their arrival. And when the General and his Knight were both on solid ground, Hux could feel them all staring at them, waiting for some answers. It was time for him to speak.

“We have to arrange a conference immediately. I want every officer on this ship in the main conference room in twenty standard minutes. Communications must be opened to every ship and every base the First Order has, with officers gathered around the holocoms. Speakers must be on, so that every stormtrooper and crew member in the entire First Order will be able to hear what we have to say. History is about to be made, and everyone will be a witness to this glorious moment!” Hux said, his voice as commanding as usual.

After he finished talking, the officers saluted him and started to hurry out of the hangar, probably to arrange the conference he asked for. He could see most of them take out comlinks and datapads, using them to communicate orders as quickly as possible. Soon everyone was gone, leaving Hux and Ren almost alone. They both ignored the troopers who were entering the shuttle in order to check if everything was okay after the flight, and they started to walk out of the hangar side by side. From the corner of his right eye, Hux could see the Knight maintaining his usual predatory stance while walking. But he was pretty sure it was just an act: Ren was a very emotional person, and his reaction just a few minutes before had been too intense, too _real_ , for the man to just be fine so soon. That should have been concerning, but Hux decided to ignore it: Ren’s wellbeing didn’t concern him anymore, since the Knight already performed his part of the deal. If he was going to fall apart, the General had no reason to help him.

“Everything is going exactly according to my plan.” Hux said. While arranging the details of what they were going to do, he’d always said _our plan_. He wanted Ren to feel included, important. That was another precaution he took in order to make sure that the Knight stayed by his side. But now that Snoke was dead, his ego had been boosted conspicuously, and for that reason he dared to say _my plan_ out loud instead of using those words just inside his head.

“I know. You won, and soon everyone in the First Order will know it.” Ren agreed, leaving him speechless. Why wasn’t the Knight complaining about his choice of words? Was he not understanding the true meaning of Hux’s words? Was that a sign of stupidity, or maybe a sign of submission? A sneer deformed Hux’s lips while he kept walking with his usual martial stance, hands folded behind his back.

“Indeed. And once this is done, we’ll head to Coruscant and take care of the New Republic.” he said, confident and proud. Hux was really looking forward to that moment.

“And I will be by your side the entire time. I won’t let _anyone_ stand in your way. I promise!” Ren declared, and those words were enough to make Hux turn to face him entirely.

He didn’t stop walking, but he couldn’t stop looking at Ren either. What the Knight had just said was nothing more than a confirmation of what he’d suspected. Submission, it was totally submission. There was no other explanation for what he’d heard. Was it possible that he’d finally tamed the wild beast that was Kylo Ren?

“I feel safer knowing that you have my back.” Hux said, then he turned again to face the hallway they were crossing. He’d felt the need to smirk, or even to smile, while saying those words, but he’d been able to suppress it. He wasn’t the kind of person to give into sentimental stuff, and that wasn’t for sure the right moment to start. He kept his facial expression and his voice as pragmatic as they always were, ignoring every feeling of comradeship that was surfacing inside of him.

***

In front of every single member of the First Order, Hux had given a speech about Snoke’s rotten ideals, and how he was only going to be an obstacle for the Order. He’d said that Kylo Ren had demonstrated himself a brave warrior and a loyal ally to the First Order, by slaughtering Snoke the way he deserved to be annihilated. And then Hux had proclaimed himself the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, making promises of greatness and victory. Everyone had cheered at the end of the speech.

Kylo could remember very well how he’d felt while Hux was talking. He had to turn off the voice modulator of his mask, so that nobody could hear that he was actually panting inside his helmet. The new Supreme Leader’s speech had turned him on, and all he could think about while hearing his leader’s voice was sex. He imagined Hux bending him over the table on the stage where they were standing, and everyone in the audience looking at them, Hux fucking him while giving his speech to the entire First Order.

They didn’t spend much time inside the conference room, but to Kylo it felt like hours. His sinful mind wasn’t able to stay focused on what was happening, his fantasies too strong to be kept back. He was grateful to be the only Force-sensitive individual on the _Finalizer_ , because he would have died of shame had anyone been able to read his thoughts during the conference. And he knew that those feelings of lust and admiration towards Hux were a liability, but still he couldn’t stop himself from having them.

That night, Kylo wasn’t able to get much sleep. His body was still aching after his fight with Snoke, since he’d refused to have his injuries treated. He could feel pain in his muscles and bones, definitely not what he needed in order to rest. In addition to that, he kept thinking about Hux. During his entire life, Kylo had followed someone more powerful than him. And after his Master’s death, when he could have been free to do whatever he wanted with his own life, he chose to follow Supreme Leader Hux. The soon-to-be Emperor of the entire galaxy.

He wasn’t sure himself of why he made that choice in the first place. For years he’d thought that Hux wasn’t anything more than a stupid simpleton. And then, in just a few days, his opinion had changed so much that, to him, Hux was now the most important person in the entire universe. So it had been obvious to start following him. And, a few hours away from the next phase of their plan, Kylo was nervous. They were supposed to go to Coruscant in the morning, and he was supposed to be able to protect his Emperor from any harm. How could he do that if he wasn’t rested enough?

When he woke up, Kylo couldn’t stop yawning. He took a quick shower, and when he got back from the refresher he found new robes waiting for him on his bed. Probably a droid had brought them in while he was showering. On top of the new clothes, he found a note. The Knight sighed before taking the note and reading it.

_I took the liberty to have some new robes made for you. Today we both have to look at our best! Hux_

Of course it was him. Who else would have dared to give such a present to the Master of the Knights of Ren? Kylo crumpled the piece of paper where the note was written and then he threw it away. He didn’t like the idea of other people deciding what he should wear. Hux should have asked for Kylo’s permission before assuming that the Knight was willing to wear whatever he wanted. And considering that the future Emperor was always clad inside a ridiculous uniform, Kylo assumed that the man had absolutely no sense of style. So he was sure that whatever Hux had picked for him had to be ridiculous too.

Out of pure curiosity, he took a look at his new robes. He had to admit that in appearance they were very similar to the old ones, just newer. In addition to that, they were made of a different fabric. Kylo couldn’t even identify which fabric it was, but it looked expensive. It also felt like touching the water when he passed his hand over it, but at the same time he could tell that those clothes were more resistant that the old ones. The only huge difference in looks was the symbol sewn on the left side of the outer layer. It was the First Order emblem, but there was a golden crown inside of it. It probably was Hux’s design of the new Imperial emblem.

Kylo had to admit that those clothes weren’t too bad. To be honest, they were quite good. He had to suppress a smile while he got dressed, because the touch of the delicate fabric against his skin was actually pleasant like a gentle caress. When he was fully dressed, he quickly combed his hair in a badly made bun, then he put his helmet on. He was okay with looking good in front of what was left of the Senate, but he didn’t want to make an appearance showing his own face. When he was ready, he took his lightsaber and left.

He was supposed to meet Hux in the main hangar, where they were going to take Kylo’s command shuttle once more. When he got to the hangar, the new Supreme Leader was already waiting for him, accompanied by Captain Phasma and two platoons of stormtroopers. From what Kylo could see, he wasn’t the only one with new clothes. And Hux’s looked even more elegant than his own. He was wearing what looked like his old First Order uniform, but it was white. It had a red belt and a black blaster holster was attached to it. A long red cloak was hanging over his shoulders, held in place by a button attached to the uniform just below the right clavicle. All the uniform buttons, including the one holding the cloak, were golden, and they all had the First Order emblem on them. On the left site of Hux’s uniform, Kylo could see the same symbol he had on his new robes, sewn right where Hux’s heart was. The most astonishing detail, however, was the thin golden crown resting on bright red hair. It was simple and it looked delicate, but it also was entirely appropriate for someone like Hux.

The more Kylo looked at Hux, the more he thought Hux really looked like an Emperor. And he was about to become one, with his help. So even if there were other people in front of them, the Knight bowed to his Emperor as a sign of respect. He could hear the stormtroopers whisper, but he made sure to shut them up by using the Force to almost choke all of them. He did it so silently, by the way, that it got hardly noticed. Only Phasma seemed to have realized what was happening to the troopers, but she didn’t dare to say anything. She just thought that Kylo was an ass, or at least that was what the Knight could read inside her mind.

“You’re actually on time, Ren. And you’re wearing your new clothes.” Hux said when he saw Kylo bow before him. He seemed perplexed, he probably was expecting a little more challenge from the Knight. What he still hadn’t realized was that Kylo had no intention of challenging him ever again.

“Don’t look so surprised. I want to look good for this too!” Kylo replied, and even through the voice modulator of his mask it was possible to understand what he was smirking while pronouncing those words.

“That’s good news!” Hux replied with a smirk of his own, and his entire face seemed to shine for the shortest moment before going back to its usual cold expression. The change was so small and so sudden that Kylo almost thought he’d imagined it.

He wanted to say something else, but before he could talk he heard Hux’s datapad beep. He saw the man take the pad out of an internal pocket of his uniform and check on the messages. Then he saw a sadistic sneer on the future Emperor’s face while he was putting the pad away.

“Three other Star Destroyers are waiting for us in Coruscant’s airspace. The Finalizer will be there too in about two minutes. Captain, get the troopers on their transports and wait for the signal. As soon as we’re out of hyperspace, follow our shuttle. We’ll land on the roof of the Senate building. Ren, let’s get inside your shuttle and get ready to leave.” Hux said immediately, and Kylo could see Phasma and the stormtroopers salute them both before heading to their transport shuttles.

Kylo didn’t even nod when Hux gave his orders, he just waited for everyone else to start doing what they were told before following Hux on the shuttle. He sat in the pilot’s seat and started the engines immediately, waiting for a signal that they were out of hyperspace to depart.

“Remember the plan.” Hux said while taking the copilot’s seat. Up close, he looked a little nervous. Even after what happened the day before, it felt strange to see worry on the new Supreme Leader’s face.

“Don’t worry, nothing will go wrong.” Kylo said to reassure him. Because of the voice modulator, his voice came out as unnatural as it always did, even if he was actually smiling a little behind the mask.

Soon the signal came, and less than five minutes later they were landing on top of the Senate building. After the destruction of the Hosnian system, what remained of the New Republic had come back to Coruscant. The half-reformed Senate was in session in what had been the Senate building of the Old Republic, so that was where they were going to make their appearance. In Kylo’s opinion, Hux’s idea of announcing himself as Emperor was very similar to what Palpatine did back in the day. But it sure was flashier, because Hux was an egotistical maniac.

As soon as the shuttles landed, they were approached by two armed guards. On Phasma’s order, the stormtroopers killed the guards and secured the area. Only then the Captain signaled that it was safe for Kylo and Hux to get off their shuttle too. The Knight was the first one to touch the ground. Kylo looked around, trying to remember the last time he’d been there. He’d been just a kid, just little Ben, holding his mother’s hand while she took him to visit the building. That had been a very long time ago, and now he was coming back to Coruscant escorting someone way more important than his mother would ever dream to be.

He waited for Hux to start walking, and soon the two of them were marching side by side. Captain Phasma and the stormtroopers were protecting them from the front, the back and both sides. Several guards were killed along the way, while the group marched towards the room where the Senate was in session. Everything was going exactly as planned.

The Senate room wasn’t entirely full. Several planets didn’t send their representatives to sessions anymore, they just sent holoprojections of them. Just to be sure that nothing could happen to them, since the destruction of the Hosnian system costed dearly to every member planet of the New Republic. Considering that several more planets had recently joined the First Order, some of them had actually stopped taking part in Senate sessions altogether. By the way, even considering how many planets had their representatives missing from the Senate building, there still was a lot of audience, and the room was impressive to look at.

The First Order group arrived from an upper entrance, reaching one of the sitting areas that had been left empty. If Kylo remembered well, it was the designated spot for the representatives of one of their planets, so it would not be missed if they decided to occupy it for the day. There wasn’t enough place there to accommodate everyone, so Kylo and Hux were only accompanied by Captain Phasma and four stormtroopers. The rest of the troopers had scattered in the nearby empty sitting areas, all belonging to First Order planets. Once everyone was in position, it was time to start.

At the center of the room, a podium had been elevated so that it was visible from every sitting area. The Chancellor was standing on it with his assistant. The man and the young girl, both humans, were unguarded. The Chancellor was talking to the members of the Galactic Senate, and everyone was paying attention to his words. He was giving a speech about the importance of sustaining the Resistance in their fight against the evil of the First Order. Well, he was soon going to see what happened to those who decided to oppose the First Order.

Hux looked at Kylo, and Kylo nodded back to him. Time to act! Without hesitation, the Knight used the Force to levitate his Emperor, taking him to the podium where the Chancellor was. Someone in the audience started screaming, others just went looking for their blasters. The moment Hux landed on the platform beside the Chancellor, someone had already started shooting. Several blaster shots just stopped in mid-air, and a moment later Kylo used the Force to jump all the way to Hux’s side, deflecting with his lightsaber more incoming blaster shots. While he secured the area, the Emperor killed the Chancellor by cracking his neck, and a moment later Kylo cut his assistant in two. The dead bodies rested at their feet while the entire room grew silent again.

“The Chancellor is dead, leaving this New Republic without guidance. The same thing has happened to the First Order too, with the death of Supreme Leader Snoke. Snoke was a corrupted leader, without any true ideals and with no real intention of bringing peace and order to the galaxy. This New Republic that you’re following is no different from Snoke. Its leaders are selfish and don’t really care about the people starving and dying on the planets far away from the Core Worlds. This galaxy has been ruled by disorder for too long! It’s time to end this, and to finally bring order to this universe.” Hux started talking as soon as he had the attention of the Senators. Someone kept trying to shoot him down, but Kylo was quick to send the blasts back to the sender.

“My name is Brendol Hux II, former General of the First Order in charge of the _Starkiller Base_ that destroyed the Hosnian system along with most of the New Republic. And here by my side is Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren and former apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke.” Hux pointed a finger towards himself first, and then towards Kylo, just to make sure that everyone knew who exactly were the two men standing in front of them “I am the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, and from this moment on, I declare the Republic as dead as its Chancellor.”

There were several seconds of silence, in which Hux was probably just listening to the whispers of the crowd and creating some suspance. During that time, Kylo was able to use the Force to connect with some of the Senators. He couldn’t understand all of their languages, but some he could. And he soon realized that they were all afraid of the same thing: their were terrified of the idea of a new Palpatine. Some of them had been alive when the Old Republic had met its end, and they didn’t want to see the end of the New Republic too. Well, too late for that!

“From this moment I declare the First Order as the only organization in charge of a new Galactic Empire. And I will be the Emperor! If anyone decides to challenge my right to rule, Kylo Ren will lead them to a painful death. The Resistance is trying to destroy the First Order, so now it is a public enemy of the Empire. Every planet conspiring with the Resistance will be considered an enemy of the Empire and it will be destroyed. The capture of General Leia Organa should be top priority for every planet under my domain. I want her alive, so that I can have her executed.” Hux’s speech continued.

Kylo’s heart was pounding when he heard his Emperor talk. He was aware of what Hux was going to say, but hearing it on Coruscant, in front of the entire Galactic Senate, was exciting. He could feel an adrenaline rush running through his body, his hands longing to kill someone. Everything was just too much, and when Hux talked about executing General Organa… Kylo just wanted to yell. He was imagining himself decapitating his own mother with his lightsaber, and his Emperor looking at him with the same crazy satisfaction he had on his face after chopping off Snoke’s head.

And Kylo wanted such a moment to happen. He wanted to feel Hux’s eyes on him, he wanted to be able to see his Emperor’s excitement while looking at him. Because he couldn’t deny the lust he had for Hux, and all the thoughts that were coming to his mind every time he thought about the former General. He wanted the Emperor so much, and he would have given anything for Hux to want him back. So he was looking forward to the moment he knew that was the most similar to the longing he sought but couldn’t have.

After declaring himself Emperor, Hux didn’t spend much more time talking to the Senate. And soon he raised a hand, ordering Phasma to move the sitting area where she was standing towards the center of the room. When she did it, both the Emperor and the Knight jumped on it from the podium, with just a slight help from the Force, and only then the sitting area moved back in place. A few minutes later, the entire group from the First Order was walking out, going back to the shuttles on the roof of the building.

When they reached the roof, two of their Star Destroyer were flying just above their heads. From there, several shuttles full of stormtroopers were landing on top of the surrounding buildings. That was also part of their plan: once Hux announced himself as the Emperor, they needed to leave military forces to protect Coruscant, so that no-one would try to take it back from the First Order. And it all worked so well.

***

After the destruction of Hosnian Prime, along with the rest of its system and the entire Galactic Senate, several things had changed. And that included how the newly reformed New Republic decided to conduct things. Since they couldn’t know if another _Starkiller_ was going to fire any moment, they had to be prepared for the worst. They couldn’t afford to have all of the records of Senate sessions just on Coruscant, because if the planet was to be destroyed the galaxy would have lost everything once again. That was the reason why every session of the Senate was now broadcasted live to all of the member planets of the New Republic.

Thanks to that new precaution, Leia Organa was able to watch the holoprojection of every session of the Senate without having to leave her current Resistance base. It was safer for her, since she couldn’t risk attending the sessions in person. Not after what the _Starkiller Base_ had done to the Hosnian system. She was alone in her office, watching the new Chancellor as he talked to the Senate, when something strange happened. She wasn’t able to understand immediately what was happening, why everyone had started to talk all of a sudden. Then the camera was pointed in a different direction and something she wasn’t expecting appeared on her holoprojector.

General Hux, the man who’d given the order to destroy the Hosnian system, was flying over the room. When he landed beside the Chancellor, someone else joined him. Even with that horrible mask on, Leia could have recognized him everywhere. The man by Hux’s side was Ben, _her Ben_. She almost fell from her chair at the sight of her son interfering with the session of the Galactic Senate. He looked stronger than the last time she saw him, and way more powerful. That was easy to understand by the way he was protecting the despicable man he was with from any harm.

Leia listened to every word that Hux said. That man called himself _Emperor_ , but he didn’t know the first thing about how to be one. He declared the end of the Republic and the birth of the Empire during a session of the Senate, just like her father Bail Organa told her Palpatine had done. But Hux was no Palpatine, and he was no Emperor as well. Leia knew that very well. He was going to fail, and her Ben with him. Also, why was Ben with him? During his speech, Hux had said that Snoke was dead. There was nothing that could make Leia happier. The man that took her son away from her was gone, giving her the chance to have her boy back. But how could a monster like that have died? Who had been able to kill him?

Just by listening to Hux’s words, it was possible to understand that Snoke had been killed by someone. Still it was difficult to imagine the existence of someone so powerful to accomplish something like that. After all, Snoke had been the most powerful Force-user in the entire galaxy, strong enough to take Ben away from them right under Luke’s nose. And now he was dead. But it wasn’t something she should have worried about. There was no time to think about a dead monster, not when a very much alive one was proclaiming himself the Emperor of the galaxy. She had to worry about Hux and what he was planning, in order to help the universe once again.

***

A few days had passed since their appearance on Coruscant, and everything was going just fine. The Knights of Ren had reunited aboard the _Finalizer_ , looking for answers from their Master after they felt Snoke’s death through the Force. Ren had tried to explain to Hux what all the Knights should have experienced in that moment, saying that it was normal for them to look for answers after something like that had happened. He, on the other hand, still thought that most of the stories about the Force were just that, stories, so he couldn’t really understand what his enforcer was saying. And he actually didn’t even care.

Luckily, the visit from the Knights had been a short one. They’d spent most of the time in a training room with Ren, meditating or doing who knows what. Then, before they left, they swore their allegiance to the Empire and the Emperor. One hour later they were gone, returning to their scouting missions across the galaxy, looking for planets to colonize. They were doing that for Snoke, and now they were returning to their tasks on Hux’s orders. He also knew that he had no real power to command them, but Ren did, and he had the power to control Ren as he wished. It was a relief to think that the Knights of Ren and their Master were all following his orders.

When the visit from the Knights was over, the Emperor and his enforcer still had something important to discuss. Hux didn’t have much free time, but the first time he’d talked to Ren about his plans he also made a promise, and it was time to keep it. So while the First Order was adjusting in its new role as military enforcement of the law throughout the galaxy, he decided to take a few hours for himself. They were the first few hours of freedom he could have enjoyed since Snoke’s death a week before, yet he wasn’t going to use them to relax.

He gave Ren the order to meet him in one of the training rooms, and he also made sure that no-one was going to disturb them. Then Hux retrieved the Sith holocron from its safe place and went to meet the Knight. When he got there, Ren had removed the outer layer of his clothes, probably to be more comfortable during a training, and he also wasn’t wearing his mask. The Emperor hadn’t told his enforcer why he wanted to meet him there, so it was obvious that someone like Ren had thought they were going to have some training.

Well, probably the Knight was going to train afterwards. But first there was something more important to do. Hux wanted Ren to activate the holocron, because he had several questions to ask the gatekeeper and he couldn’t do it on his own. He needed a strong Force-user for that, and his new enforcer was exactly the person who could help him.

While entering the room, the Emperor could feel Ren’s eyes on him, even before he locked their gazes and realized that the Knight was actually staring at him. He was dressed with his Imperial uniform, the same he had on when he talked to the Senate on Coruscant. He had several identical uniforms made, so that he could wear that same outfit every single day. From what he could see, Ren was wearing the new clothes too. But for the Knight, Hux had only one set of robes made. It meant that Ren was either alternating the old clothes and the new ones, or he’d been wearing the same attire the entire week. And that would have been disgusting, but knowing Ren he couldn’t really rule out the possibility. He probably needed to have some more new clothes made for the Knight.

“Since you asked me to meet you here, I was thinking you were going to train with me. But I don’t think you can do it wearing _that_.” Ren was the first one to talk, and he put some emphasis on the last word, which he pronounced while pointing at Hux’s uniform.

“Well, I have no intention of dirtying myself by training with you.” the Emperor answered “But there will be some training involved.” The Knight replied with a questioning look, and it encouraged Hux to keep on talking “Do you remember what I said the first time we met in my quarters? I told you that I have a Sith holocron, and that you could have been able to use it after we succeeded in conquering the galaxy. Now, here we are, the Emperor and his enforcer. You respected your part of the deal, and I’m going to do the same with my part.”

Hux observed with attention Ren’s reactions to his words. He could see that the Knight was curious, he was probably ready to reach for the holocron. But at the same time he was holding back, as if there was something preventing him from moving. Was he waiting for Hux’s permission? Had he submitted to the Emperor so much that he’d lost all of his usual arrogance? The former General wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of a spineless Kylo Ren, but what he loved for sure was the idea of having such a powerful killing machine depending completely on him. It gave him a sense of power that was more intoxicating than the one that came from his title of Emperor.

“I can sense it. The holocron. I feel a huge presence in the Force, as if there is a concentration of the Dark Side here on the ship. And I can feel it here, in this room, emanating from you. Do you have the holocron with you?” Ren said, and his words sounded almost reverential.

Hux sniggered for just a second, then his face lost every trace of expression again. He reached inside a pocket with his right hand, and just a few seconds later the holocron was in plain view. He held it with both hands, outstretching his arms. That was his way of offering that _thing_ to his loyal enforcer. After all, that object full of Sith knowledge was Ren’s reward for killing Snoke and allowing Hux to become the Emperor.

“Let’s be clear about this: I found the holocron, so it’s still mine. But you can ask for it whenever you want and you can use it freely. You will not share its knowledge with your Knights without my permission. This is meant to make _you_ and only you the most powerful warrior in the entire galaxy. I don’t want anyone else learning _stuff_ from it.” Hux explained, and he also had good reasons for saying those words. He could easily control Ren, but he couldn’t say the same for anyone else, and that was the reason why he didn’t want anyone else to become more powerful. He didn’t want to risk to be overthrown by someone he couldn’t entirely trust.

“I understand.” Ren nodded while saying those words. He took a few steps forward, his eyes glued to the pyramidal object in Hux’s hands “I promise I will not share this knowledge with anyone else. I’m greedy, after all, and I want it all for myself. I also swear to use the power you’re giving me to protect the Empire and its Emperor.”

The Knight outstretched his left hand, trying to take the holocron. Hux, by the way, quickly pulled the object against his own chest. He still had something to say before giving the holocron to Ren. He still had to make sure that his enforcer was going to do something for him, before letting him have that Sith memento.

“I appreciate your devotion, I really do.” the Emperor started to say when he saw frustration and disappointment on Ren’s face “But there’s something else that I need from you before I give you the holocron.”

“What is it?” the Knight quickly asked, his voice clearly impatient.

“I need you to activate the holocron, call the gatekeeper and let me talk to him. I have several questions that need to be answered, and I think you should be interested in hearing those answers too.” Hux demanded.

“You’re interested in knowing more about the information the gatekeeper gave you about Snoke, aren’t you? I have to admit that I was going to ask those questions myself, as I’m indeed very interested in hearing the answers. So there’s no harm in asking a few questions together before I start my training with the Sith Lord.” Ren admitted.

Only then Hux decided to give him the holocron. As soon as the object touched the hands of the Knight of Ren, it immediately came to life. A few moments later, the holographic figure of the Sith appeared from the pyramid, and it stared at the person that was holding the holocron. The Emperor immediately moved to Ren’s side, so that they were both in the gatekeeper’s field of view at the same time.

“I sense a strong presence of the Dark Side coming from you, young man. You must be Kylo Ren, then.” the gatekeeper said, and those words left both the Emperor and his enforcer speechless. How could he know who Kylo Ren was? If he really was a Sith of the past, he couldn’t have known about someone as young as Ren!

“How do you know his name?” Hux asked, trying not to let worry come out of his words. He didn’t know much about the Force and how it worked, so sometimes he was afraid of what he didn’t understand. And that knowledge, in that precise moment, was something he really couldn’t understand.

“The same way I know yours, General Hux. Or should I say _Emperor Hux_ , now?” the image coming out of the holocron said again.

Hux was startled by the revelation. He felt the need to open his mouth and ask more questions about what the gatekeeper had just said. How was it possible that a Sith Lord who died long ago knew his name? And how could he know that he was the Emperor? He realized that there was something at play, something strong, but he couldn’t get a grasp on it. By the way, Ren was quicker than him, and he talked before Hux was able to choose the right words to use.

“Did you find this knowledge through the Force?” was the question asked by the Knight. Hux turned his head to look at Ren for a moment, then moved his gaze towards the holocron, waiting for an answer.

“Of course I did.” the gatekeeper replied “I learned of the two of you centuries ago, through a vision of the future, when I was still alive.”

The answer given was probably enough for Ren, who nodded, but not for Hux. He wasn’t familiar with all of that mystical crap that his enforcer believed so much in, so he had no idea of what a vision coming through the Force was. He didn’t even believe it was possible! “What do you mean?” he asked, hoping to find some answers that were easier to understand.

The gatekeeper gave a strange look at Hux. “I sense that even after everything you’ve witnessed, you still have doubts about the ways of the Force. That’s the reason why I didn’t want to say too much to you when we first met. Even if I needed you to reach my goal.” he said.

“Your goal? I don’t understand.” the Emperor was quick to ask again. He really couldn’t understand what the gatekeeper was saying. Probably that conversation was already beyond the level of understanding that he could reach with just study and logic. He most likely needed to be Force-sensitive to fully comprehend the situation.

“Of course you don’t.” for a moment Hux felt offended by those words, thinking that probably the gatekeeper was making fun of him by talking to him as if he was a child “Kylo Ren, would you please explain to your Emperor how Force-induced visions work?”

Even Hux could understand that the gatekeeper’s words were more a demand than a question. Yet Ren looked outraged and sent a questioning look towards the holocron. “Why?” he asked, perplexed.

“Considering that you’re holding my holocron in your hands, I presume you’re interested in accessing my knowledge. I can give it to you, but first I need to understand your level of knowledge of the ways of the Force.” the spirit of the Sith explained, his voice more serious than it was moments before; that was a sign that maybe he was getting angry. So Ren really had the power to get on _everybody’s_ nerves, not just Hux’s.

“Sure. I’m sorry for questioning you.” Ren sounded repented, then he turned towards Hux, in order to give the explanation directly to him “During the time of meditation, Force-users are closer to the Force than any other moment of their lives. During that time, when the connection is strong enough, the Force can send visions of the past, the present and the future. No-one can control those vision, or decide which moment to see. The visions just happen, leaving the person who had them with the knowledge of something that happened in the past, or that’s happening somewhere else in the galaxy, or even that will happen in the future.” he faced the gatekeeper again “I presume you had a vision of the future, then.”

“That’s correct.” the gatekeeper nodded while talking “I had a vision of the two of you, showing me that only you had the power to destroy my worst enemy.”

After a moment of silence, Hux decided to ask another question. “The person we knew as Snoke, you knew him as Darth Plagueis, am I right?”

“Correct once again.” the holographic creature said “I knew him as Darth Plagueis, a long time ago. But in order to make you understand the situation, I think it’s time for me to tell you my story. Get yourselves comfortable, because it will take some time.”

When the gatekeeper said he had a long story to tell, Ren immediately decided to get himself more comfortable, just as it was asked of them both. He couched on the floor, putting the holocron on the ground so that he didn’t have to hold it anymore. Hux, on the other hand, remained standing on his feet. He was more comfortable in a military position than sitting or crouching on the floor like a child. So all he did was to put his hands on Ren’s shoulders, moving most of his body weight there, and he leaned forward in order to see the hologram from up close.

It took him a few seconds to realize how close he was to Ren, with his chin almost touching the Knight’s hair. They looked very comfortable around each other, but Hux knew very well that they weren’t. The Emperor tried his best not to think about it, afraid that in a moment of weakness the thought could have been taken from his mind, and he forced himself to suppress a blush. He soon noticed, by the way, that Ren’s body had stiffened at the contact, right before melting into Hux’s hands. He was about to step back, creating some distance between their bodies, when Ren leaned backwards and rested his shoulders against Hux’s legs. That deed was able to paralyze the Emperor on the spot.

When they both stopped moving, the gatekeeper started to tell his story. “When I was alive, I was known as Darth Tenebrous.” he said “When Darth Plagueis was just an apprentice, I was his Master. For several years I taught him everything he needed to know. And then, when he thought he’d learned enough to surpass me, he decided to get rid of me. But luckily for me, I didn’t teach him everything I knew. I kept several secrets for myself, something I understand he hasn’t done with his first apprentice, Darth Sidious.

“I’ve always been in great contact with the Force. Before I died, I had two visions. The first one was about my own death. I saw my apprentice attack me, I saw our duel. I saw myself giving him a scar on his face before dying at his hands. As strong as one is with the Force, seeing one’s own death is never easy. So it wasn’t easy for me either. I was furious at first, I didn’t want to die. But I also knew that what I’d seen through the Force was going to happen, and that I couldn’t do anything to stop it. This is the reason why I’ve created this holocron. I wanted to pass my knowledge on to a new generation of Sith, hoping that someone could find the way to use it to avenge my death.” Ren nodded while hearing the Sith Lord talking, making his body rub a little against Hux’s. The Emperor couldn’t suppress a shiver.

“Only a few days before my death, I had another vision. A vision of the two of you.” Darth Tenebrous continued, bringing the story to a more interesting subject “Through that vision, I realized you were my only chance for vengeance. Through your own knowledge of the past, I learned about Darth Sidious’ attempt to kill Darth Plagueis, and his obvious failure. Soon I realized that the two of you were the ones destined to succeed. That the two of you were going to finally kill my apprentice once and for all. I knew you weren’t born yet, but I knew you would eventually come to me. That’s the reason why I hid my holocron in a safe place, waiting for it to be found.”

Hux was deeply surprised when he heard those last words. The holocron had been hidden in a safe place, waiting to be found? Was a random place on the ground of a random planet what the Sith Lord considered a “safe place”? He needed to know a little more in order to understand what had actually happened. After all, the day he found the holocron he could remember the way the gatekeeper spoke to him. It was time for him to find an answer to all of his questions.

“I have a question.” he asked “When I found the holocron, you said that I was destined to greatness. You didn’t seem surprised when you called me Emperor. Did your vision show you this about me?”

“Yes.” the gatekeeper replied “I saw you become a great Emperor, all because of the death of the Sith the two of you killed.”

“Lord Tenebrous,” both Hux and the Sith moved their gazes towards Ren, who’d been silent for a long time but had apparently found something else to say “You talk about _us_ , about what _we_ did, but _I_ was the one to do the actual killing.” he looked and sounded offended, probably because his actions were somehow understated.

Hux knew it wasn’t a great idea to give him any kind of reply. After all, Ren didn’t really need an explanation. If he just decided to use his brain - if he had one, of course - he could have been able to understand on his own that considering Snoke _their_ kill was just appropriate. But the Knight had always been so good at getting on his nerves, so the Emperor fought against himself in order to give an actual reply to his enforcer’s words.

“If it hadn’t been for me, you’d still be kneeling before him and calling him Master.” he said, resentful. In addition to that, everything they were doing had been planned by _him alone_ , so of course he needed half of the credit when it came to Snoke’s death, even if Ren had been the one to do the “actual killing”, as he said.

“Fair enough.” Ren murmured after a few seconds of silence, looking embarrassed. Very good, at least he was starting to understand that without Hux he could have never been able to defeat his former Master.

Satisfied, the Emperor decided to address the Sith again. “So, your vision showed you that we were the ones destined to kill Sno- Darth Plagueis, am I right?” he still found so natural to call his former leader _Snoke_ “You also said you knew that we would eventually come to you. Yet you hid your holocron in a scarcely inhabited planet in the middle of nowhere. How could you be so sure that we would have found it?”

“Because I knew that you somehow needed my help.” the gatekeeper said as if it was the most logical statement in the world, almost smiling while he talked “I’ve been waiting for you, Hux, all those years. And when I sensed your presence through the Force, I manipulated it to convince you that you needed to come closer, to explore the planet. I convinced you to join the troops that landed on the planet, to take a walk on your own. It wasn’t just fate that made you stumble on my holocron. It was actually me, because I wanted you to find me. And it needed to be you, because you were so good to shield your mind to mind reading, and Plagueis couldn’t know about my holocron. That’s the reason why I couldn’t let Kylo Ren find me, since he had my old apprentice inside his head all the time.” by the end of the explanation, Ren had a guilty look on his face that made the Emperor sneer.

At that point of the talk, Hux knew enough to understand the situation completely. So there wasn’t any need to explain more. In addition to that, Darth Tenebrous himself didn’t seem so keen to keep on talking. That was his cue to understand that the conversation was over. Therefore, the Emperor agreed to leave the holocron to Ren for the rest of the day, so that he could learn something about the Force from the Sith inside of it, or whatever he was going to do with that stupid pyramid. He then left the training area, and when he reached the door he could already hear his enforcer and the gatekeeper of the holocron talk about things he could have never understood.

On the way to the bridge of the _Finalizer_ , Hux thought a lot about what he’d just learned. In particular, his mind was set on the last part of the tale. Darth Tenebrous had said that he’d been manipulating the Force to persuade Hux to do what was needed in order to find the holocron. Yet the former General had never felt a presence in his mind during that entire time. But the more he thought about it, the clearer it was. When he’d made those decisions, everything had felt so natural… yet they were all decisions that he would have never made on his own. That was the only reason why he considered finding the holocron as a lucky coincidence.

In that occasion, he’d thought that maybe what Ren had told him about the Force was true. The Force had its own will, and it could decide to help someone who needed directions. After finding the holocron, Hux had even thought that maybe the scavenger girl had really been helped by the Force, and that only because of the help she’d received she’d been able to defeat the Knight. But if everything about what happened with the holocron had really been influenced entirely by the Sith’s power, then the Emperor’s first idea about the Force was true: the Force couldn’t act on its own, and it was just as strong as the person using it. So once again he found himself thinking that the scavenger from Jakku had only defeated Kylo Ren because Ren himself had made some stupid mistake he didn’t want to admit.

***

A few weeks had passed since the birth of the new Empire led by Emperor Hux of the First Order. So many things had changed in the galaxy, and Leia still had problems adjusting to everything. Many years had passed since the time she fought with the Rebellion against the previous Galactic Empire. She still couldn’t believe she was going to do it all over again. But what hurt her the most was the thought that her son, her Ben, was the Emperor’s enforcer. It was so similar to the role that once Darth Vader had played with Emperor Palpatine. Yet it was different, because at the time Vader had always had his own missions, that led him away from the Emperor. Ben, however, never seemed to leave Hux’s side. Leia could always see them together every time she caught a glimpse of them on the holoprojector. She could also feel them through the Force, always in the same place.

What disturbed her the most was the fact that Ben was following Hux’s orders without even questioning him. Ben had always been a difficult child to talk to, and Snoke had always been the only one who could make him do anything without the risk of retaliation. Leia thought that, with the death of the monster that was controlling him, her son would have finally been free. Yet he was being controlled by someone else. Someone who didn’t even have any access to the Force. _Why_ that was happening was the question she needed to answer.

As soon as she heard Hux’s speech on Coruscant, she immediately started to think about who could have had enough power to kill Snoke. She’d suspected Luke at first, after all he kept disappearing for long periods of time without telling anyone where he was going, and he hadn’t been on the base around the time the former General of the First Order had proclaimed himself Emperor. But when Luke came back, as soon as he heard about the intrusion at the Galactic Senate, he’d said he had nothing to do with Snoke’s death. He also added that, when Snoke had passed, he’d felt his passing in the Force. At that point both of them were only thinking one thing: there was only one person in the entire galaxy who might have been strong enough kill that monster.

Ben. He’d been Snoke’s apprentice for many years, therefore he was the only one who could have had accesses to his fortress. In addition to that, he was the only one who knew him well enough to even attempt to murder him. And realizing that her son had been most likely the one to eliminate his former Master, Leia felt her heart beat faster than it had in years. There was still good in Ben, she’d always been sure of that. As much as he tried to embrace the Darkness, he couldn’t deny the Light entirely. For so long he’d tried to keep the distance from his family, to obey every command that Snoke gave him.

Leia was sure that the day would have come, at some point, when Ben couldn’t take it anymore. Therefore, in her opinion, there was only one reason why he could have killed Snoke: Ben Solo had freed himself of Kylo Ren. Her son, her precious boy, wanted to come home. But there was something out there preventing him from reaching out to his mother. Or, to be more accurate, _someone_.

General Organa of the Resistance had only been entirely sure about a few things in her life: Luke Skywalker was a hero, Han Solo was the love of her life, and her son was going to come back to her at some point. That was the reason why she couldn’t imagine a reason for Ben to kill Snoke that was different from his desire to come home to his loving mother. The fact that he was still with the First Order only meant that he was forced to be there.

Hux was evil, Leia was sure of that. He wasn’t Force-sensitive, but he still had several other powers that nobody knew about. That was the only way she could explain how it was possible that her son was still with him and not with her. That despicable man was holding something over Ben’s head. Something big enough to allow him to control a powerful man who didn’t want to be part of the First Order anymore. The Emperor was holding her son by his side with fear and strength, that was the only possible way for him to be followed by a redeemed Ben Solo who wanted so clearly to be good again.

Leia Organa was a General, but most importantly she was a mother. And when she fully realized that her son was in danger, probably enslaved by Emperor Hux, all she cared about was to fee him. She wanted Ben to come home, and for that to happen she had to get rid of what was holding him in the ranks of the First Order. For the good of the entire galaxy, and of course for the good of her family, Brendol Hux II had to die. And she was going to make sure that the self-proclaimed Emperor met his end, even if it was the last thing she did. Even with her own last breath, Leia would have freed her son from the evil grasp of yet another monster!

***

Hux’s first few weeks as the Emperor were busy and unpleasant. He had so many things to do, and not enough time to do them all. He ended up neglecting his sleep, and having to conceal the dark circles under his eyes with make up. Most of his days were spend in meetings with the higher ranking officers of the First Order, to create new plans to destroy the enemies of the Empire.

The Senate had been eliminated. Hux was no Palpatine, and he didn’t care to rule the same way his predecessor did. He wanted to be Emperor on his own terms, and it meant that there weren’t going to be other people in charge of ruling. He was the only important person in the entire universe, the others be damned! The Imperial fleet of the First Order was able to control the entire Empire without any need to use rulers from the different planets to help. Colonels, Generals and Admirals were stationed all over the galaxy with their battleships, ready to bring death upon every system that dared to oppose the Emperor.

The most trusted officers aboard the _Finalizer_ became the Emperor’s advisers. The one he trusted the most was Captain Phasma, who was promoted almost immediately after Hux became the Emperor. Once she became Major, Hux entrusted her with one of the most important projects the First Order was working on. He’d been working on the blueprints since before the destruction of _Starkiller_ , so one of the first things he did when he became Emperor was to consent the construction of the new weapon he’d invented himself. And Phasma, loyal and trustworthy, was put in charge of the construction. She had to supervise the work, and make sure that the new weapon was completed as soon as possible.

As the Emperor, Hux gave a lot of attention to what the officers of the First Order had to say. He was fair and impartial when he had to solve problems inside the ranks of the Order, and he was cruel and ruthless when facing the enemies of the Empire. Moreover, having Ren always by his side also meant that most people obeyed him just because they were afraid of the painful death the Knight of Ren could give them.

Emperor Hux was loved and respected by the First Order and some other fanatics around the galaxy. Everyone else feared him, giving him huge satisfaction. He’d always liked the idea of the populations all over the galaxy trembling before him. It made him feel more powerful, giving him even more right to be the Emperor. In the beginning there had been a few politicians who openly disrespected him. Hux had sent Kylo Ren after them, to set an example. No-one tried to imitate them after seeing a broadcast of what happened to them.

Hux had been the Emperor for just a month when Major Phasma asked for a private audience with him. He still didn’t have a throne room anywhere, because he spent so much time on the _Finalizer_ that he couldn’t even start to decide which planet he wanted to use as his base. So he received Phasma in one of the conference rooms of the ship, the one he and Ren once used to communicate with Snoke.

The Emperor and his loyal officer sat down alone, with Kylo Ren guarding the room from the outside. When Major Phasma removed her helmet and put it on the conference table, Hux remained perfectly still. Every time he saw her face he felt the same surprise, because behind that armor there was a beautiful woman instead of a perfectly efficient droid, but during the years he’d worked with her he’d learned how to conceal his surprise.

“Major Phasma, is something wrong with the construction of the new Annihilation Cannons?” Hux asked to start the private meeting. She hadn’t given him any reports on the construction of the new lethal weapon for more than a week, so his first thought was that there was some kind of problem to solve. Maybe they couldn’t understand his blueprints?

“Of course not, Sir, it’s quite the opposite actually. In fact I would like to report that the construction of the Annihilation Cannons has been completed. We just need to attach the weapon to the _Finalizer_ and then we’ll be able to test it. We aim to have it ready to fire in no more than two days.” she reported with pride.

Hux’s eyes sparkled for a few seconds, the time he needed to fully realize what was happening. The Annihilation Cannons, his latest great invention, were almost ready to be tested. And he’d just received the coordinates of a couple of small Resistance bases, just what he needed in order to fully demonstrate the power of his new weapon.

“Excellent work, Major. Go make sure that everything is ready to fire in two days then. I’ll have the _Finalizer_ reach a system where a small Resistance base should be located. We can test the weapon there.” the Emperor commanded.

Phasma nodded, stood up, saluted, put on her helmet and left. Once he was alone, Hux couldn’t stop a smile. Soon he would have been able to show the Resistance the true power of the First Order. And he would have done it through a weapon that he’d designed himself. The Annihilation Cannons were just two twin blaster cannons that could cover every angle of fire, in order to defend the ship from enemies coming from every direction. Those cannons, however, were not ordinary weapons. They had a huge fire power, even grater than that of the Ventral Cannons. With a single shot of the Annihilation Cannons, an entire continent could be destroyed on a nearby planet.

The only weakness of the Annihilation Cannons was their location. Since they were huge, the only place where they could be installed was the bottom of the _Finalizer_ , in a central position. And a big cannon on the bottom of a huge ship was an easy target for whoever tried to destroy it. That was the reason why it needed to be constantly guarded by at least an entire squadron of TIE fighters. But if they managed to reach the target area, destroy the Resistance base and then fly away at light speed, there was no risk of their enemies attacking the precious weapon of the First Order.

Two days later, the weapon was ready for a test fire. The Emperor had the _Finalizer_ positioned right above a planet in the Mid Rim, facing the hemisphere where he knew a small Resistance base was located. He was on the bridge when he gave the order to fire the Annihilation Cannons. A single blast shot left the ship, and a few seconds later a large portion of the surface of the planet was destroyed. Entirely annihilated. It was beautiful, almost poetic, to see the results of that destruction. The moment the surface of the planet started exploding, Hux turned towards the man on his left, to see if he was appreciating the sight as much as he was. He could see the reflection of the explosion on Ren’s mask, but he was surprised to see that the Knight wasn’t looking at the planet. He was looking at _him_.

“You’re supposed to look at the planet, not at me.” Hux said when he felt his cheeks starting to burn. Ren tilted his head but didn’t look away.

“The reflection of the explosion in your eyes… it makes you look even more…” Ren lowered the volume of his voice, until the last part was almost entirely lost to Hux’s ears. Was the Knight saying that he looked even more powerful? Intimidating? Crazy? No, the word that got lost sounded much more like _beautiful_. The Emperor was about to say something, but his enforcer was quicker. “Never mind.” he said, and then went back to look at the planet. Hux was a little confused, but he did the same. It was better not to think about the strange actions of Kylo Ren, not when he was moving another step closer to wiping out the entire Resistance.

Hux had already realized that being the Emperor was a huge help when it came to collect information about his enemies. Before, as many planets as possible tried to conceal the Resistance, hiding their fleet and their bases from the First Order. But with the First Order in charge of ruling the galaxy, many things had changed. Several planets were ready to sell out the Resistance in order to receive favors with the Emperor. That was how Hux was always well informed on where small Resistance bases and vanguards were located.

The information was precious, and it was put to good use. After the first fire test of the Annihilation Cannons was considered successful, several other locations sustained damage from the lethal weapon. The First Order was closer than ever to the destruction of its greatest enemies. And what gave Hux even more satisfaction was that the Resistance couldn’t see them coming, so they were always unprepared to react to their attacks. In the following two weeks, the First Order was able to hit successfully eight other military targets.

***

The true meaning of Snoke’s death started to hit Kylo a few weeks after it happened. Hux was the Emperor, he was his enforcer. He was supposed to protect the Supreme Leader of the First Order and to help him defend the peace of the Empire against their enemies. It wasn’t an easy task, considering that everyone who wasn’t afraid of them wanted Hux dead.

At the beginning, Kylo was proud of the role he had. The life of the Emperor depended on his ability to kill his enemies. But soon enough the Knight started to feel tense every time he had a mission that brought him away from Hux. He didn’t feel comfortable leaving the Supreme Leader of the First Order alone for more than a few hours. He knew perfectly well that the _Finalizer_ could withstand a fight against an enemy ship, but what if the danger came from within the Order itself? He didn’t want to risk Hux’s life by leaving his side!

So after the first few weeks he tried his best to be the Emperor’s shadow. Wherever Hux went, Kylo was following him, never walking more than two steps behind him. He was starting to become paranoid, with the certainty that every person who stared at Hux a little too long was actually planning his death. In order to avoid any surprise attacks, he demanded the time to scan the mind of every single person who approached the Emperor, so that he could be sure of their good intentions.

Soon enough, Kylo was often spotted walking around the _Finalizer_ with Hux, talking about plans for the future or just chatting about anything. When they started to talk like two normal guys, the Knight himself was surprised. If someone had told him a few months before that he and Hux would have actually become friends, he would have thought that person was on drugs. But now, getting to know the Emperor a little more every day, he realized that he actually liked spending time with him. He didn’t just feel obligated to defend him. He actually _wanted_ to be with Hux for as long as he could, talking to him and hoping to be noticed for something more than just his power.

Kylo didn’t know exactly _when_ things had started to change. All he knew was that a few weeks before he hated General Hux with every fiber of his being, and at some point his feelings changed completely. He’d started to feel something different towards Hux, something more intense and more intimate than the physical attraction that was connecting him to his Emperor since the moment Hux decapitated Snoke’s corpse. That new feeling was profound, and somehow reminded him of his childhood.

When he was a kid, when he was just Ben, he’d never had to worry about what he was feeling. Growing up, he’d listened to Snoke and started to hate his family, together with everyone who’d shown him any kind of love when he was a child. But before he started to hate those people, he loved them. As a child, before becoming a monster, he’d felt _affection_ towards his parents, his uncle Luke, and several family friends he’d known since he’d been born.

Even if he’d stopped feeling any kind of affection many years before, he still remembered what it was like. So, when he realized that he was developing that kind of feelings towards Hux, Kylo immediately got scared. He didn’t know where those feelings came from, nor he knew _why_ they’d decided to haunt him. He’d been a way happier person when there was no love in his life. He didn’t want to have any feelings of affection towards Hux. Those feelings would have ruined his life!

Kylo could still remember what Luke Skywalker used to tell him as a child, when he was starting to feel the temptation of the Dark Side. “Is there a person you love, Ben?” Luke often asked. He remembered answering that yes, there were several people he loved. His parents, for starters, most of all his father; Han Solo had been little Ben’s hero.

“Love is a trait of the Light Side of the Force. When you’re afraid that the Dark Side is growing inside of you, think of the people you love, Ben. As long as you love someone, there will always be Light in you. And as long as there is Light, the Dark Side won’t be able to win you over.” Luke Skywalker used to say. And Kylo was terrified to think about those words, so many years later.

The affection he was starting to feel towards Hux was so similar to the feelings he had towards his parents as a child. Was that what normal people called “falling in love”? He had no way to know for sure, because it had never happened to him before. After he’d decided to follow Snoke, he’d severed his bonds with his family, even killing his own father just a few months before on _Starkiller Base_. After that, he’d never felt any kind of love or affection for a very long time.

When he’d first met Hux, it had been hate at first sight. Then, throughout the years, that hatred had only solidified more. But since the moment they started working together to defeat Snoke, everything had began to change. He’d felt admiration, then physical attraction. He still remembered how happy and aroused he’d felt the first time he’d met Master Darth Tenebrous, when he and Hux were leaning on each other while listening to the Sith talk.

But how did he get from there to develop true affection towards someone he’d hated for years? The real problem, by the way, wasn’t how that happened. Kylo’s _true_ concern was the fact that it happened in the first place. He’d spent years training in the use of the Dark Side of the Force, living alone and without love. He’d killed the Light inside of him once and for all the moment he killed Han Solo. How was it possible that he was still able to have that kind of feelings towards another person? He was supposed to be a monster, unable to love, too deep in the Dark Side to remember any positive feeling.

Considering that he’d been able to develop feelings of affection towards Hux, it meant that there was still Light inside of him. Luke’s words kept repeating that concept inside his head over and over. But if there was still some Light in him, it meant that some part of him might still have been good, like little Ben had been before he gave into Snoke’s alluring words. And if some part of him was still good, still full of Light, was Hux going to keep a distance from him?

The Emperor was ruthless, people even called him _evil_. Kylo adored him because of that. And he also knew that, in return, Hux admired his viciousness and his ability to kill and maim. But if the Emperor was to find out about the Light that was still inside the Knight, was he going to be disgusted by him? It was Kylo’s biggest fear. After everything they went through together, after he developed some unwanted feelings for Hux, the last thing he wanted was for the redhead to hate him again like he did before. Kylo didn’t want his hate anymore, he wanted Hux’s attentions and affection. Even if, deep inside, he knew perfectly well that Emperor Hux was unable to love.

***

When the First Order started to attack and destroy some Resistance bases, at the beginning Leia couldn’t understand what was happening. She couldn’t even imagine why they knew the location of the bases, and she didn’t understand what kind of weapon could have been able to do so much damage to a planet in a single shot, giving the army of the Empire enough time to flee at light speed before anyone from the Resistance even heard of the attack.

When the first three planets were hit, everyone was caught by surprise. But after that, Leia had started to understand what was happening. When the New Republic was in charge, every planet supported the Resistance the best it could. But with the Republic gone, the Resistance had no allies in the galaxy. Everyone was so afraid of the First Order that they were all willing to sell out the Resistance in exchange for entering the Emperor’s good graces. It was disgusting to witness, but unfortunately it was also very real. There was nothing Leia could do about it, nothing she could do to stop it.

She had several meetings with the Admirals in order to find a new strategy. They needed to find a way to hide their bases even to the populations of planets that were hosting them, but it wasn’t easy. Technology was against them in that: even the simplest scanner could easily locate the base within the atmosphere of a planet. So they decided to move the biggest bases to uninhabited systems, hoping to be concealed from the First Order. But moving a base wasn’t an easy task nor a quick one. By the time they moved their main base, three other small ones had already been targeted and destroyed. They were losing too many good soldiers, together with some valuable equipment and many weapons. Soon they would have been entirely powerless. And she was sure that it was exactly what Hux was aiming at.

One of their small bases was located on a green planet, inhabited by a peaceful population. Leia never thought that they would give information about the location of the base to the First Order, because they’d always tried their best to stay out of other people’s wars. Unfortunately, when the Council of the Elders met one day, the decision was taken to give the coordinates of the base to the Empire. The Council even contacted Hux while it was in session. Luckily, however, not everyone on the Council agreed with that decision. An old man, whom Leia had met many years before while fighting with the Rebellion, contacted her and told her everything about the betrayal. He told her about the decision made, about the talk with the Emperor during the meeting of the Council.

He even told her something very important: the First Order had another few targets to strike, he didn’t know which ones, and after those it would have attacked that base. That piece of information was very important for General Organa, who decided immediately to use it at her own advantage. The Resistance needed a good plan to follow, and knowing one of the future targets of the First Order was incredibly important in order to develop said plan.

Leia called Luke back to the base, since he’d left a few days before on a mission with Rey. She wanted to be able to sit down with her brother to think about a plan together. So, as soon as he got back, the Jedi walked immediately into his sister’s office to meet her. The twins only spared a couple of seconds to smile at each other, then they went back to business.

“Leia, you told me to come back immediately, and now I’m here. What happened?” Luke asked, since his sister didn’t have time to explain the situation to him during their quick conversation on the comlink.

“I received information on which one of our bases will be targeted in the immediate future. I need your help to find a way to exploit this knowledge.” she replied, talking like the great General she was.

“This is good news! Knowing where they’ll strike, we’ll be able to stop them! And maybe, if we play our cards well, we might be able to destroy the weapon they’re using to ruin so drastically the surface of the planets they attack. Millions of lives could be spared if we succeed.” Luke sounded optimistic.

“Indeed.” Leia said “If we plan our moves well enough, we can take them by surprise. We can kill the Emperor and destroy the First Order once and for all. We can end the war, and bring Ben home with us where he belongs!”

Her voice was joyful and full of hope, and her brother smiled at her when he heard her words. Maybe they were being a little too optimistic, but there was nothing wrong in that. If the people in charge lost their hope for a better future, how was the rest of the Resistance supposed to keep on fighting? They needed to stay positive, not only for themselves but also for the good of the galaxy.

“Come, sit with me. We have a lot of work to do.” Leia suggested, pointing at a chair in front of her desk.

Luke just nodded once, then he walked towards the chair and sat down. They spent the following week barricaded in General Organa’s office, remembering to eat and to drink only when a droid entered the room bringing them their meals. The plan they had to elaborate was more important than anything else.

***

All of the previous attacks to small Resistance bases had been perfectly flawless. During the first one, Kylo remembered very well how he’d looked at Hux instead of looking at the exploding portion of the planet. Everything had been more beautiful when reflected in the Emperor’s blue eyes. So he kept on looking at Hux every time the Annihilation Cannons destroyed a targeted Resistance base. But since the first time had been embarrassing enough, he’d tried to avoid being caught staring at Hux after that. He didn’t want to start another humiliating conversation, and most of all he didn’t want to risk having something about his feelings slip out of his mouth on its own accord.

While the _Finalizer_ was flying at light speed towards yet another planet, the Knight was lost in his own thoughts. Soon there would have been another explosion, and he would have been able to see _that light_ inside of Hux’s eyes again. It wasn’t just the reflection of the explosion what he liked to admire in the Emperor’s eyes. What he loved the most was the pride and joy and power that made them shine like sapphires under the sun. There was nothing more beautiful than that sight, in Kylo’s opinion. And he cherished every moment he could spend looking at that masterpiece.

When the ship got out of light speed, Kylo made his way towards the bridge. On his arrival, he saw the Emperor already waiting for him there. Hux was dressed in his white uniform, the thin golden crown firm on his red hair. The Knight was grateful for the mask he was wearing, because every time he laid his eyes on Hux he started smiling like a child on his birthday.

Even if his steps were light, almost impossible to hear, the Emperor somehow noticed his presence and turned towards him. The shadow of a smile appeared on Hux’s face, even if it stayed there for less than a second. By the way it was enough to make Kylo’s heart beat faster.

“Here you are! I was afraid you were going to miss the show.” the Emperor said to greet him.

“You know I could never miss the destruction of our enemies.” the enforcer replied, a smirk well hidden behind the mask, but his cheerfulness still understandable from the voice coming out of the voice modulator.

Together, they got to the big windows in order to look outside. Side by side, they kept their heads pointed in the direction of their military target. Kylo’s eyes, however, were staring to the right, where Hux was, even if the helmet stayed perfectly focused on the planet outside.

“Charge the Annihilation Cannons!” the Emperor commanded, and some officer behind them replied with a loud “Annihilation Cannons charging, Sir!”

Then, all of a sudden, hell itself happened.

X-Wings and Resistance ships came out of light speed all around the _Finalizer_ , firing with their blaster cannons. They were caught by surprise, since they weren’t expecting an ambush by the Resistance. In addition to that, the First Order only had the power of one ship, while their enemies seemed to have come with their entire fleet. They were drastically outnumbered, and it took him several seconds before he was actually realizing the situation they were in. Hux, however, had been way quicker, and he was already shouting orders while walking along the deck.

“Raise the shields! Prepare the Ventral Cannons to fire! Send out all of the TIE fighter squadrons! Keep blasting the biggest ships first!” were the Emperor’s orders.

Outside the ship, Kylo could clearly see an X-Wing doing extraordinary maneuvers in the air while shooting towards the _Finalizer_. It was easy to understand who was piloting that X-Wing. So it was time for him to start giving orders too.

“Tell the TIE fighter pilots to shoot down Poe Dameron’s X-Wing first! And locate the position of the _Millennium Falcon_ , I want it blasted out of existence!” he shouted.

The activity on the deck was frenetic, and soon enough the Ventral Cannons started firing against enemy ships. Even the Annihilation Cannons sent a shot towards the enemy fleet, annihilating everything there was in their direction, unfortunately including a few TIE fighters. The other ships, by the way, were still aiming at a specific point of the _Finalizer_ : the Annihilation Cannons themselves. The cannons were damaged, so it was taking too long for them to charge again for another attack. In the meantime, the Ventral Cannons and all of the other blasters were shooting nonstop, destroying as many ships as they could.

The Resistance started getting slowly out of range, retreating towards the surface of the planet. While doing that, however, they never stopped firing at the Annihilation Cannons. From the report of a petty officer whose name Kylo didn’t know, the status of the cannons was that they were almost entirely destroyed. The _Finalizer_ was surrounded, so it couldn’t jump to light speed to flee. X-Wings were all around the ship, preventing it from moving without taking any more damage. The shields were almost out, and the _Finalizer_ was starting to get damaged as well. Things were going bad.

While Hux kept shouting orders to the crew, Kylo concentrated as hard as he could, trying to use the Force in order to deflect some of the blasts that were aiming at the Annihilation Cannons. But it was useless: for every blast he deflected, three others were hitting their target. And soon, the greatest weapon in the hands of the First Order exploded, damaging the lower part of their flagship. In that precise moment, all of the Resistance ships landed on the surface of the planet. Only the X-Wings remained to prevent the _Finalizer_ from fleeing the battle.

***

Emperor Hux had always been a calm person. Even in the face of disaster, he was able to stay focused on his mission and to formulate the best strategy to get out of trouble. So, when the Resistance started the attack on the Annihilation Cannons, he immediately took control of the situation and started giving orders to the crew on the bridge of the _Finalizer_. That situation, however, wasn’t an easy one to solve, and it was going to take way more than a few orders to eliminate the problem.

Resistance ships were everywhere, X-Wings kept firing against the _Finalizer_ and even Ren had started giving orders. The fact that the Knight knew what to do was surprising, but soon Hux realized that his ideas were actually good in that moment. He imagined Poe Dameron’s X-Wing was the one that was flying in a mocking way out of fire range, getting close enough to shoot at the Annihilation Cannons before running away again with an acrobatic spin. Shooting him down was indeed a wonderful idea. He deserved to die! What he didn’t really approve was Ren’s obsession with the _Millennium Falcon_ , but he could still understand why his enforcer was so obsessed with that ship.

Soon enough, though, things got entirely out of control, and the Annihilation Cannons got destroyed. The _Finalizer_ was in no condition to flee the scene, so all they could do was to stay and fight. A ship fight, however, wasn’t the best idea. Their only ship was damaged, while most of the enemy ships had already reached the surface of the planet. Was the Resistance hoping for a planet-side battle? Considering the current situation, it could have been an advantage for the First Order. In the air, they were greatly outnumbered. But on the ground? There they could have the advantage. The _Finalizer_ was full of highly trained soldiers, after all.

If all of the stormtroopers and most of the officers landed, they would have been able to easily destroy all of the enemies who were hiding on the surface. Only the personnel that was strictly needed to fly the _Finalizer_ and command the operations was going to stay on the ship, everyone else was going to land and annihilate the Resistance with their blasters.

The destruction of the Annihilation Cannons, however, was bad for the morale of the troops. Those cannons were the greatest lethal weapon the First Order had, and they had been destroyed too easily by enemy fire. Hux was afraid that his soldiers weren’t going to be concentrated enough on the battle, once they landed on the planet. What if they got too worried and fought at less than their full ability? They needed something to boost their morale. They needed a new reason to believe in victory.

In that precise moment, the Emperor realized that he could only do one thing in order to win the battle. If he wanted his troops to be motivated enough, he needed to land on that planet and lead the attack himself. Only then his soldiers would have found the right spirit to kill all of the enemies. He would have been in a lot of danger, he knew that very well, but with Ren by his side he was still confident. The Knight would have never let him die.

“Prepare all the shuttles to land on the planet. All non-essential personnel must leave their posts and board the shuttles. I will be leading the attack myself on the ground. Lieutenant Mitaka, I leave the bridge to you.” Hux stated.

Everyone around him was puzzled by his decision to lead the attack himself. Even Mitaka, always ready to reply every time Hux addressed him, took a few seconds before saying a shaky “It will be my honor, Sir”. The reaction that worried him the most was Ren’s, and for good reasons. He’d been pretty sure that the Knight wouldn’t have liked his decision at all.

“You’re doing _what_?” Ren shouted, taking a few long strides until he stopped right in front of the Emperor “You can’t go, it’s too dangerous!”

“Shut up, Ren. I’ve made my decision: the only way to win this battle is for me to risk my life alongside my soldiers. If you’re afraid I might die, just stay close to me and protect me.” Hux replied with a flat and cold voice.

After he said those words, he turned around and started to walk away, making his way towards the main hangar. He wanted to meet Major Phasma there before they all took off. He only took two steps before Ren started following him, and from his unusually heavy steps he could easily understand that the Knight was enraged.

“You’re crazy. Of course I’ll be with you if you land on that planet, I would die before I see my Emperor hurt, but _please_ don’t do it. It’s way too risky, even with me by your side.” Ren pleaded, sounding too much like a child. After all, that was exactly what he was: an overgrown child. The Knight didn’t understand why Hux decided to lead the attack, that was pretty clear. He probably thought that the Emperor didn’t understand the risks, or that he liked the idea of being in danger. And there was nothing farther from the truth. Hux was actually terrified at the thought of dying in battle, because he was too young and too important to just leave the world. But going to battle was something he just _had_ to do, it wasn’t his choice at all.

“I don’t want to go to battle, but I have to.” the Emperor said while walking, when only Ren could hear him. Then he put a hand on the Knight’s back, in a reassuring gesture “Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I trust you with my life.”

Ren let out a snort that got painfully amplified by the voice modulator. He seemed ready to throw a tantrum, and that wasn’t the best time to make a scene. Hux needed to concentrate on what was coming next, and the Knight needed to be concentrated too. The survival of them both depended on it.

***

The moment the _Millennium Falcon_ hit the ground, Leia was already outside, scouting the area for a good hiding place. The Resistance ships were landing one by one, and the _Finalizer_ was damaged. The lethal weapon able to destroy entire continents with a single shot had been destroyed, so she could say that they were a step closer to winning the war. But there was still a long way to go before the end of the conflict, and for that precise reason it was necessary that everything kept going exactly as she and Luke had planned.

Their first idea had been to ambush the _Finalizer_. They didn’t know the exact moment in which the First Order would have attacked the planet, so they kept surveillance around the system in order to be immediately aware of any movements. Doing that, they were able to detect the arrival of the _Finalizer_ and immediately they sent the entire fleet of the Resistance to surround it.

The ambush worked exactly as planned.

The next phase of the plan included the attack on the ship. The X-Wings, lead by Black Leader Poe, were supposed to fire on the lethal weapon that the First Order had built, and to protect the other ships from the attack of the TIE fighters. Because of course there were going to be TIE fighters, most likely a lot of them. In the meantime, the other ships were supposed to retreat towards the planet and slowly get out of fire range while keeping on shooting at the weapon.

The attack phase, too, worked out perfectly.

The following part was the landing. Once the weapon was destroyed, they needed to use the X-Wings to block any way out for the _Finalizer_. They needed to make it impossible for the First Order to keep fighting from the ship, forcing them out on the planet. While planning that part, Luke had mentioned something very important. He’d hypothesized the psychological implications that the destruction of the weapon could have had on the soldiers. So at that point there were two different options to follow, depending on what Hux decided to do. If he was a coward, he would have stayed on the ship giving orders, and his troopers would have been easily annihilated on the ground, leaving him without cover on an easily targetable _Finalizer_. If he was a good leader, he would have led the troops himself to raise their morale, giving Leia the possibility to shoot him down herself.

It was with Leia’s great pleasure that, when the shuttles of the First Order landed on the ground, she saw Hux come out of the first one, with Ben by his side and some other officers behind him.

Everything was going exactly as General Leia Organa had planned. And soon everything was going to be over.

***

Taking the fight with the First Order to the surface of the planet had been Leia’s plan since the beginning, so the entire Resistance was prepared for that. Regardless of their intentions, however, the results weren’t as satisfying as they’d predicted. General Organa had a very good reason for wanting Emperor Hux leading his troops to battle, however in order to achieve that goal she had to deal with the consequences. With their leader on the field of battle, the stormtroopers were more motivated. They were all giving their very best, killing members of the Resistance with ease.

For someone like Leia, who cared about every single member of the Resistance like they were all part of a large family, seeing so many people die was painful. But she couldn’t change the plan at that point. It would have just made all of those sacrifices pointless. She just needed to stick to what she’d decided with Luke, because that was the only way they could have a chance to meet Hux face to face. And they needed to meet him, if they wanted to kill him. And then, after eliminating the self-proclaimed Emperor, Leia and Luke would have been able to save Ben.

During the actual fighting, Leia kept her distance. She wasn’t so young anymore, and she couldn’t risk to get injured. Luke, Rey, Finn and Chewbacca were with her, in order to protect her from any possible harm. From a safe place, they all checked what Hux was doing, noticing that Ben was never getting away from him. The Emperor and his enforcer, then, got separated from most of their troops. Just a couple of squads were following them. It was almost time for Leia and the others to take action, then.

Before they tried to move from their safe position, Leia and the others kept checking the entire battlefield. Most of the fighting was concentrated in the area between where the Resistance ships and First Order shuttles had landed. Over their heads, X-Wings and TIE fighters were dancing around each other, trying to shoot the enemies down. On the side of the main battlefield, several smaller groups of adversaries were confronting each other. People on both fronts were hiding wherever they could in order to find a better position from where to attack. Blaster shots were filling the air, going in every direction. Leia suspected that people from both the Resistance and the First Order might have been killed by friendly fire, considering that it was impossible to understand where most blasts came from and where they were going.

The stormtroopers, though, seemed to outnumber their adversaries. Most of the area was a sea of white armor, forcing the members of the Resistance to move back towards their ships in order to find shelter. Things weren’t going so well. Leia had to act immediately if she wanted to have a shot at attacking Hux before the stormtroopers were done annihilating her army. Even with Poe Dameron as a pilot, it was difficult to defend the people on the ground from the sky, so they couldn’t count too much on the X-Wings making the situation even.

“Leia…” Luke said, when one of their X-Wings got hit by a TIE fighter and crashed on the ground, killing several members of the Resistance and stormtroopers that were hiding in the area. Leia knew that her brother could feel them all disappearing into the Force way better than she could.

“I know, it’s time. If we want to hit Hux, we have to move now!” General Organa replied, in order to make her small group understand that they were about to move.

In order to be stealthy, they couldn’t have too many soldiers accompany them during their search. However, they weren’t so stupid to face Ben without any backup. After all, he was probably going to defend the Emperor, at least at the beginning. And it was very unlikely to find the two of them alone, they would have had some stormtroopers with them for sure. They needed more firepower if they wanted to force them into a corner and kill Hux.

Luke and Leia moved together, the others following them. They quickly walked towards the direction they knew that Hux and Ben had taken, hoping to find them soon. And their desire was satisfied. Their target wasn’t too far away. General Organa immediately saw her son, always wearing his mask that looked so much like Vader’s, and the Emperor all dressed in white by his side. The stormtroopers were all around them, protecting them both from the attack of a few Resistance soldiers. Before backup could get any closer, the soldiers were dead, but they took a few troopers with them. No more than a dozen of them remained to protect Hux.

Good, they only needed to kill those stormtroopers and distract Ben long enough to have a chance to shoot the Emperor. Then, once they’d killed Hux, they could start thinking about putting an end to the war and to the First Order itself. Those thoughts were on Leia’s mind when she approached the small group of enemies, a blaster in her hand. On her left, Luke was holding his lightsaber. On her right, Rey was holding hers. Chewbacca was on Luke’s other side, his crossbow ready to fire. Finn was on Rey’s other side instead, holding a blaster. Everyone else was behind them, ready to fight.

“Surrender! You cannot escape!” Leia yelled, in order to catch the attention of the two men and their troops.

But she knew that at least Ben already knew that they were there. He’d been able to sense them in the Force, she was sure about that. Even with that horrible mask to cover his beautiful face, she knew that her son had a concentrated look on his face. After all, he was about to face two Jedi. And Luke wasn’t just his uncle, he was also his former Master. Rey, on the other hand, was the girl who’d defeated him before she’d even been trained in the Jedi arts. They weren’t just any opponents, not even for someone as powerful as Ben.

“Die, General Organa.” Hux replied, pointing his blaster at her “Troops, fire!”

At the Emperor’s command, all of the stormtroopers fired their blasters, and Hux fired too. Luke and Rey used their lightsabers to deflect as many shots as possible, but some of the people behind them were hit. One of them died immediately, the others were just wounded. None of the five Resistance members in the front, however, received any blasts. As for the First Order members, a stormtrooper in the back died, as Chewie had scored a perfect headshot. Ben, however, was using his own lightsaber to deflect as many shots as possible. Hux, on the other hand, just moved out of the way, hiding behind a stormtrooper.

Everyone kept shooting at the same time. Those who had a lightsaber kept trying to deflect as many blasts as possible, and Ben at some point even used the Force to stop a shot in midair, before it could reach Hux. He was powerful indeed, because not even Luke was able to do that. The Resistance members behind Leia and the others were all aiming at the stormtroopers, but everyone else was trying to hit the Emperor. So the evil monster had to dodge as many shots as possible while he kept firing his own weapon.

What Leia didn’t like at all, was that Hux didn’t have any respect for his own subordinates. He was moving with the grace of a cat, she had to admit that he was skilled at not being hit, especially with someone like Ben to protect him, but he was once again demonstrating how ruthless he was. Every time he couldn’t dodge a blast, he grabbed a stormtrooper and used him as a human shield. One of the reasons why the stormtroopers kept dying, in fact, was that they were taking every blast that was directed towards their devious Emperor. General Organa was very much disgusted by the way Hux was showing how little respect he had for the lives of his own allies. Leia would have stopped to mourn every single person who died in the battlefield, had she not risked to die herself if she did. Her enemy, on the other hand, was pretty much killing his own men in order to save his own life.

They all went on for several minutes, always keeping some distance but never stopping to send fire to their respective enemies. The number of stormtroopers was quickly decreasing, while the members of the Resistance were still outnumbering those of the First Order. Then, all of a sudden, something changed. Hux was hiding behind an injured stormtrooper. The soldier, by the way, was hit by a blaster shot to the left leg, and he fell to the ground. That left Hux with no time to take cover, and a blaster shot was headed towards his head.

Leia was sure that was it. Hux was going to die, she was certain of it. But then something unexpected happened. Ben dove towards his Emperor, knocking him to the ground. The blast that was supposed to hit Hux’s head hit Ben’s helmet instead. It looked like the direction of the blast was bent a little, yet it actually hit Ben! General Organa couldn’t believe that her son almost got shot in the face. In addition to that, with the mask on it wasn’t possible to understand if the damage was just to the helmet or to his head too. By the way she could easily see a huge crack in the helmet, but no blood coming out of it. That was a good sign: if Ben’s head had been hit, there would have been a lot of blood.

When Hux fell to the ground, with Ben on top of him, everyone from the First Order stopped shooting for a few seconds. Some members of the Resistance wanted to take advantage of that moment, but Leia wasn’t going to allow that. She didn’t want her son to be hurt in the process. So no-one was going to shoot while Ben was almost in front oh their target. So she stretched out her arms, holding them in front of the allies by her sides. Leia wasn’t going to shoot, not until it was safe enough for Ben, and no-one else was going to shoot either. She needed to be sure that her son wasn’t injured, and she also needed to give him enough time to get away from Hux.

Thinking about Ben’s safety, however, didn’t cloud Leia’s judgment. She still had full intention of killing the Emperor. And, after what she’d just witnessed, she was even more certain that she was doing the right thing. Hux had been using the stormtroopers as human shields, and now he’d pretty much just done the same with Ben. Ben’s life was worth much more than that, he couldn’t risk to die protecting a monster. So more than ever General Organa of the Resistance needed to get rid of that man once and for all. Only then she could have brought her son back home with her.

***

When Ren shoved him aside, Hux fell on his ass. He wasn’t expecting such a collision, so it was natural that he wasn’t able to hold his position. The Knight fell almost entirely on top of him, banging their heads together. For a moment everything hurt: after all, Ren’s head was still inside the helmet! From what he could see, by the way, the upper part of Ren’s mask was ruined. It had been hit by a blast, and for a moment Hux feared that the man inside it had been hurt too. But he immediately realized that the Knight of Ren was just fine.

At first he didn’t even realize that everyone had stopped shooting at once. It was some kind of truce, in which everyone could take care of their injured companions, even if it wasn’t going to last long. With the exception that the First Order soldiers weren’t taking care of their wounded allies, but only of their Emperor. The last two remaining stormtroopers were at his side, trying to protect him while he and Ren helped each other to stand again. His enforcer was also worrying only about him, and it gave Hux huge satisfaction.

While standing up again, probably Ren moved too much, because the crack on his helmet enlarged and cut through the mask. With a movement of his head, the entire thing fell off, revealing Ren’s face. Hux could see something change in General Organa’s eyes when that happened. For a few seconds she just stared at her son, then everyone was shooting again. It was all so quick and sudden, that the stormtroopers didn’t even understand what was happening. A moment later they were both dead, used once again by Hux as human shields.

The Emperor didn’t have enough time to assess the situation. When blasts kept on coming, he went looking for more stormtroopers to hide behind, but he couldn’t find any. All of them were already on the ground, dead. It was just himself and his enforcer, no-one else. All of a sudden, Hux realized that they weren’t going to make it. There were too many enemies, and just two of them. From a distance, he could hear the noises of the battle going on everywhere else, recognizing the sound of the blasters his troops were armed with. He could understand that the First Order was winning the battle, but what good would that have done if he was going to die? He was the Emperor, he couldn’t die!

He had to concentrate more on his own battle. He still had Ren, but even the Knight wasn’t able to stop or deflect every single shot that was coming their way. So he had to do the best he could in order to dodge while going on shooting at the enemies. By the way he wasn’t sure how long they would have been able to keep up before one of them got hit. And if that happened, both of them were as good as dead.

“Hux, we need to call for backup!” Ren said while using his lightsaber to deflect a dangerous shot from Chewbacca.

“We can’t” Hux said, shaking his head a little in denial “We have to stay concentrated on the battle. At the slightest distraction, we’re dead.”

“I won’t let you die!” the Knight replied, and the Emperor could clearly hear the resolution in his enforcer’s voice.

Ren wasn’t going to let him die. He felt warmed inside by that thought, yet he still couldn’t trust that the Knight was telling the truth. Of course Ren was going to do his best in order to prevent their deaths, but there was no way to predict their success for sure. They were at a huge disadvantage, and it was very unlikely for them to get out of that situation alive and well. In other words, they were most likely screwed.

All around them there was a lot of blood. The dirt and the grass at their feet were soaked with red fluid. That blood was coming from the dead bodies of the stormtroopers, now lying on the ground motionless and useless. Most people would have been disgusted by the entire scene, but Hux wasn’t like most people. He didn’t actually care about his men, he only cared about himself. Yet in that moment part of him was worried about Ren. He didn’t want to die, but at the same time he wasn’t willing to use his enforcer as a human shield.

Then, once again, things happened so suddenly that it was difficult to even understand what was going on. Everyone shot at the same time, most of the blasts were deflected or dodged, but Hux’s shot was able to hit the traitor stormtrooper, FN-2187, right through the heart. The man fell down, and he was dead by the time his body hit the ground. The members of the Resistance were taken aback for a moment, and the Emperor felt cockier than ever. His usual confidence came back, reassuring him that they were going to make it. They could have been able to kill all of their enemies, they just needed to believe it.

While the enemies turned to look at the dead companion, Hux took two steps forward, leaving Ren a little behind. The scavenger girl was kneeling on the ground, her back to him, her hands on the body of the traitor. She was vulnerable in that moment. So it took the Emperor an instant to realize that he had an opportunity he couldn’t let go to waste. He raised his blaster again, ready to shoot her. If she died too, they had a better chance to kill the others and leave.

He was about to pull the trigger, but something he wasn’t expecting happened. General Organa regained her consciousness before the others, aimed her blaster at him and shot. It was so quick, so sudden, that Ren couldn’t do anything to prevent it from happening. Hux got hit twice. The first blast went through his left shoulder. He could feel the pain hit him hard, and before he realized what was happening, a second blast hit him in the stomach. The power of the hit made him lose his balance, and he felt his body fall backwards. He didn’t have the time nor the strength to stabilize himself and remain on his feet.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. In that moment the Emperor realized that he was screwed. He was going to die.

***

When FN-2187 fell, Kylo thought that they could actually turn the tables. But then he saw Hux move forward, and he outstretched his left hand to try to stop him. But it was too late. Hux was out of his reach, and before he knew it the Emperor got hit. His mother had actually been able to land a hit on Hux. Two hits, to be more precise. The Master of the Knights of Ren wasn’t known for his ability to remain calm in the face of disaster, so when he saw Hux fall backwards he started to panic. He didn’t even realize he was shouting a “NOOOOO!” that could be heard from a very long distance.

Hux was falling, and Kylo immediately dropped his lightsaber without even thinking about it. It was an automatic response of his body to the sight of the Emperor getting hurt. He didn’t even realize that the enemies had stopped firing, but he actually didn’t care at all. Even if they’d still been shooting, he would have dropped his weapon anyway. Taking care of Hux was more important than keeping himself from getting shot at. Dying was a price he was willing to pay, if it helped to protect Hux from harm.

The Knight outstretched both arms while moving a step forward. He caught Hux mid-fall, dropping on his knees with the other man against his chest. He held his Emperor tightly, with the intention of never letting go. After all, he cared deeply about Hux, therefore seeing him injured was hurting him as much as if he were the one who got shot. They hadn’t been close for a long time, but it was impossible to deny that Hux was in his heart. And the most painful thought he had was that, if the leader of the First Order was going to die, Kylo would have never had a chance to work out the courage to confess his terribly inappropriate feelings.

Kylo kept holding Hux as if he were the most precious and delicate creature in the world. If the situation had been different, if Hux hadn’t been dying, he was sure the Emperor would have never let the Knight hug him that way. But in that moment nothing mattered, not for Kylo anyway, and it seemed that Hux thought the same, since he wasn’t complaining about the attention he was receiving. The Emperor just laid there, in Kylo’s arms, with his white uniform drenched in blood and the golden crown crooked on his head. The red fluid was flowing quickly out of the wounds, landing all over Kylo’s hands and clothes too.

“Hux! Please don’t die! Hux, stay with me. Don’t die!” the Master of the Knights of Ren said with a soft yet panicked voice.

He didn’t know if the entire Resistance was staring at him in that moment, and to be honest he didn’t even care. All he cared about was Hux, and the fact that the bastard had been able to make Kylo Ren fall for him before dying in his arms. It wasn’t fair, it was just painful. Kylo could see his Emperor looking at him, and something appeared on his face that had never been there before. Hux’s eyes were soft, caring, almost affectionate. Even after becoming friends, the Supreme Leader of the First Order had never looked at him like that. It was the first time, and it was heartwarming. But the thought that the look he’d been wishing for was coming just moments before Hux’s almost certain death… well, that was heartbreaking.

Kylo’s eyes felt wet with unshed tears when Hux slowly raised a hand to cup his left cheek. Even through the fabric of the white leather glove, he could still feel how cold his precious Emperor was. Of course Hux had never been the warmest person alive, but _that_ was dead-body level of cold! The Knight kept holding on the person he cared about the most in the entire universe, staring at Hux’s loving blue eyes. He could see pain on Hux’s face, and he was proud to see that his Emperor wasn’t screaming in agony; Hux was keeping it together, giving him a good example to follow.

“Ren, I want you to carry on my will.” Hux exhaled, his voice barely audible. It was easy to understand that every effort to talk was multiplying his pain “To carry on the will of the First Order. I was supposed to rule the galaxy, but now you shall do it instead.”

The last few words were just a whisper, and Kylo had to use the Force in order to hear them well enough to assimilate them. Hux’s lips stretched a little to form what looked like a small smile, but a moment later they relaxed. The entire body lost consciousness and went perfectly still in Kylo’s arms. The Emperor was dead, his enforcer couldn’t hear him breathe anymore. That realization brought along the most intense and overwhelming pain he’d ever felt in his entire life. It was like having his heart ripped out of his chest and torn to shreds with a lightsaber.

Those emotions were too much to handle all at once, and Kylo started to lose control over his own thoughts. All of a sudden it was difficult to understand what was happening, because it was just ridiculous to think that Hux had died. Hux couldn’t die, he was invincible. Yet, his eyes kept wandering over the Emperor’s face, reminding him of what had happened, of what he’d lost. His hands grabbed the jacket of Hux’s uniform, shaking him gently but with decision. No, he couldn’t accept that Hux was dead. He _wasn’t_ dead, he was just sleeping. All Kylo needed to do was to wake him up.

“Wake up, Hux. Please wake up!” he repeated like a mantra, shaking Hux’s body with increasing strength.

But nothing happened. Hux didn’t move, his eyes were still closed. The appalling realization that the Emperor had actually died was starting to kick in, and it made Kylo’s entire body shiver. His long dark hair was falling in front of his face, preventing his mother and the others with her to see the tears falling from his eyes. He was crying in silence, desperate because the most important person in his life had just left him all alone. He was going to rule the galaxy as the new Emperor, but what good would that have made? Hux was supposed to be the greatest Emperor the universe had ever seen, Kylo was fine with being his enforcer. He didn’t want to sit on a throne that belonged to someone else, giving orders to an army that was supposed to follow another person.

He was lost in his thoughts. For Kylo, the members of the Resistance a few feet away didn’t exist. He thought he was alone, Hux’s cold body his only companion. He’d even forgotten about his own mother, the infamous villain who’d shot the killing blast. And he kept thinking that she wasn’t there… until he heard her speak.

“Ben, Hux is gone! The monster who was forcing you to do evil deeds is dead. No-one is keeping you prisoner anymore. You’re free now, you’re finally free to come back with us. I miss you Ben, let’s go home together!” his mother said out loud in his direction. Everyone could hear her words.

Probably the members of the Resistance thought that she was crazy. She was offering Kylo Ren to go home with them, after all. Most of them didn’t know that Kylo had once been Ben Solo, son of the deceased Han Solo and General Leia Organa. But Ben was no more, and that woman didn’t want to believe it. Ben was dead, as dead as Hux was. He’d killed the boy named Ben in order to become the Master of the Knights of Ren, and he hated that his mother couldn’t accept the fact that he wasn’t her son anymore. He didn’t belong with her, he belonged with Hux.

She said she wanted him to come home with her, and hearing those words the Knight just balled his fists tighter around the Emperor’s uniform, until his black leather gloves almost ripped for the tension. _Home_. The man in his arms was his home, his everything. And he was gone, lost forever because a stupid woman couldn’t accept the fact that Kylo didn’t need her anymore. Since as long as he could remember, when he was a child, everything had always been about his mother. Little Ben had felt abandoned when she preferred to work instead of spending time with him once in a while, he’d loathed her for that, running straight to Snoke.

It was his mother’s fault if he’d suffered as a child. It was her fault if he sought Snoke for comfort and appreciation. And after so many years, when he thought that he was finally free of her, she’d come back to haunt him again. Once again it was her fault if his entire life was crumbling into pieces. She’d never been able to understand him; she couldn’t understand Ben as a child, and of course she wasn’t able to understand Kylo as a man. How could she think that he wanted to go back to her? All he needed to be whole was a single person, and that person wasn’t her. That person was Emperor Hux, and because of that woman he was dead.

But he was going to avenge Hux’s death. He still remembered the pain he’d felt when he killed his father. He’d felt weakened, disoriented, because by killing that man he’d freed himself from the most important attachment of his childhood. He’d felt guilty for months after murdering Han Solo. But Leia Organa? He wasn’t going to feel bad at all, after destroying her. Kylo was certain about that! He wanted her dead, he wanted to see her dismembered body rot in the ground. Kylo didn’t care if he had to sink into the deepest evil that the Dark Side of the Force had ever seen before. He was going to make her pay, _to make them all pay_ , for Hux’s death. Soon they were going to regret standing in the way of his happiness!

Slowly and carefully, the Knight of Ren laid Hux’s body on the ground. Then he stood up, using the Force to call his lightsaber back to his right hand and turning it on. There was silence all around, the only sounds were the echoes of the battle in the distance and the buzzing of Kylo’s unstable saber. His hair wasn’t covering his entire face anymore, so it was now possible to see the tears streaming down his cheeks, coming from two swollen eyes that looked a little different than usual. He also let out a few screams of pure anger. He was sure that sentences of hatred were being directed to Leia Organa through the screams, but it wasn’t so. He was losing his mind so quickly that he didn’t even realize he wasn’t able to articulate any words to describe the pain he was experiencing, or the suffering he wanted to bring upon his former family.

He felt a strong connection to the Force, stronger than ever before. He could feel the Dark Side more clearly. For the first time in his entire life, there was no Light in him, only Darkness. The call to the Light that had been tearing him apart for years was gone, probably forever. All he could see inside his own mind was pure Darkness, and he could feel the Dark Side as he’d never felt it before. Kylo wasn’t trying to manipulate the Force, he was just concentrating on his own feelings. His body, however, took control over the Force on its own accord. It was almost possible to _see_ the Force around him, for how strong his concentration was.

“You’re going to pay for what you did!” Kylo yelled, and he was finally able to formulate some words “You don’t understand, Hux never forced me to stay by his side! I wanted to be with him because I loved him! And I’m going to kill every single member of the Resistance for what you did to him!”

He put all of his anger in his cry for vengeance, and then he launched forward like a predator on a hunt. He was holding his lightsaber firmly with both hands at that point, ready to strike. He was concentrated on his target, thoughts of death and blood on his mind. He was ready to begin the greatest massacre since the Clone Wars, because all of those people deserved to die and he wanted to make them suffer while he killed them. So the Knight raised his lightsaber, ready to strike against the woman who had once been his mother, and all he could see was the look on her face. There was fear in her eyes, realization and horror. Good, it meant that she was aware of the repercussions of what she’d done. Then she was going to die while conscious of her utter failure.

Kylo Ren’s eyes turned as red as blood the moment he landed the first of many blows.

***

Kylo was pacing around the medbay of the _Finalizer_. He was so nervous he couldn’t stop, disturbing the doctors working on injured stormtroopers. A medical droid approached him to gently ask him to sit down, or to at least go to his quarters to take a shower, and in response to that he destroyed the droid. No-one had the right to tell him what to do, especially in such a delicate moment. He was still wearing the same bloody robes he had on the day before during the battle. He stank of dried blood, sweat and _death_. Even his hair was dirty, with several locks disgustingly stuck to his face.

The battle was over, and he’d brought the First Order to victory. Killing the leader of the Resistance had forced everyone else to run away, leaving the stormtroopers able to get back on their shuttles and to fly back to the _Finalizer_. Kylo had taken Hux’s body on board of his command shuttle and somehow he’d flown back to the flagship. He still didn’t know how he’d managed to pilot a shuttle in that condition, since he was still too shocked and overwhelmed with sensations that he could barely understand where he was. Then, when he’d landed in the main hangar, he’d walked out of the shuttle carrying the Emperor’s body. Seeing Hux like that, a doctor had rushed towards him, touching the body in search of a pulse.

Kylo had felt extremely protective of Hux in that moment, and he’d almost killed the man who’d tried to check if he was alive. Of course he wasn’t, there was no reason to check. He’d seen him die! But then, when he’d been a second away from Force-choking the doctor to death, something unexpected happened.

“The pulse is weak but it’s still there. We have to rush the Emperor to medbay immediately!” the doctor had said, and Kylo felt like something exploded inside of him. It had been like being locked in a small dark room with no windows, and suddenly the door had been opened for him to see the light again.

“I’ll take him!” he’d replied, starting to run towards the medbay, holding Hux as close as possible to his chest.

“Prepare immediately a bacta tank for the Emperor. If it’s not ready when we get there, I’ll have your head!” while rushing ahead of the Knight, the doctor had started to give orders through a comlink. He’d probably been the man in charge of the entire medbay, so he’d actually had the power to threaten his underlings with a terrible death in case of failure. Good, it was important to know that Hux was going to be in good hands.

“Don’t worry Hux, you’ll be fine. Just hold on.” Kylo had whispered, his face buried in the Emperor’s red hair.

From the moment he’d reached medbay, Kylo hadn’t been able to rest. Hux, _his_ Hux, was still alive. He was in a bacta tank, trying to heal from the terrible wounds he’d suffered on the battlefield. So that was the reason why, a day later, the Knight was still there, keeping vigil in front of the tank. He hadn’t slept, but he didn’t care. He could always meditate to release his fatigue into the Force. He wasn’t going to leave the medbay until he had any news about Hux’s health. The doctor told him more than once that the situation was still critical, and that they still weren’t sure if the Emperor was going to make a full recovery. There was still the possibility of him dying in the tank, and Kylo wasn’t willing to leave until he knew that the danger had passed.

It wasn’t until the third day that the doctor told him that Hux was out of the danger zone. He was going to be fine, he just needed more time inside the bacta tank and then a long period of bed rest. At first, Kylo thought that the doctor had lied to him just to see him leave the medbay and take a shower - he _really_ stank, people were holding their breath around him - so he used the Force to enter the doctor’s mind searching for the truth. As soon as he realized that the doctor was being honest, he exhaled a sigh of relief. Only then he accepted to leave in order to take a shower and get some rest.

When he reached his quarters, he took a very long shower and then slept for several cycles. When he got up again, it was the evening cycle of the following day, and new robes were waiting for him. He quickly got dressed, eager to see Hux again. He knew that there could be no interaction with a patient inside a bacta tank, but being in the same room as the person he loved was enough for the time being.

Once he was back in medbay, all of the doctors and medical droids started avoiding him immediately. They were afraid of him, and they had every right to be. If anything happened to Hux, Kylo would have probably destroyed the entire medbay, together with everyone in it, and they knew it. But when he reached the bacta tank the Emperor was fine, fluctuating in the fluid with a relaxed expression on his face. It made the Knight feel better. After all, just a few days before he’d thought that Hux had died, and it had been the worst sensation he’d ever felt in his entire life. Something he didn’t want to experience ever again.

When he believed that Hux was dead, he’d felt as if he’d died too. There were no words to describe the pain he’d felt, and he was trying his best not to think about it. Just remembering what it had been like, Kylo lost his breath. He had to put a hand on the bacta tank, trying to reach for Hux through the Force, in order to calm down enough to breathe again. He also tried to think about something that should have helped him focus: Hux was alive because he hadn’t felt his passing through the Force. On the battlefield he’d panicked so much that he hadn’t even realized it, but a few days later it was easier to get a hold of that notion. _Hux is alive. General Organa is dead. We won._ Even with those thoughts crossing his mind, Kylo knew very well that they’d paid a terrible price for that victory over the Resistance. They’d almost lost the Emperor. But, he had to admit, the Resistance had lost so much more. Just as it should have been.

Kylo decided to sit down beside the bacta tank, remaining there for hours. Then, halfway through the night, he started to feel tired again. That brought several dark and unpleasant thoughts to his mind, already weakened by the turmoil of emotions he’d had during the past few days. Those thoughts were about Hux’s death. What would have happened to him if Hux had died? When he thought he was dying, the Emperor had asked him to rule his Empire. But the Master of the Knights of Ren wasn’t sure he could have been able to do it.

If Hux had died, he would have left a huge hole in Kylo’s whole being. It would have probably felt difficult to eat, to sleep, to think. He could easily imagine himself stopping to care about himself, letting himself die slowly. And that thought was new to someone like Kylo, especially since sometimes he still found difficult to realize that the person he loved so much was the same bastard that he’d despised for years. But everything had changed in the past couple of months, until the point where he couldn’t live without Hux anymore.

***

When Hux woke up, his head was hurting too much. He didn’t know where he was, what had happened. He wasn’t even sure if he was dead or alive. The last thing he remembered was caressing Ren’s face, and then the cold darkness. He had a vague memory of something warm, like hands holding him, but he wasn’t sure if that was real. When he tried to remember very hard, he could still feel the sensation of fluid around his body. Had he spent some time inside a bacta tank? It was very likely, considering the extent of his injuries. So did it mean that he was actually alive?

He opened his eyes, hoping that a quick check of his surroundings could give him confirmation about being alive. But the light was too bright after so much time spent in the dark, so he couldn’t see anything at all. He could feel, by the way, something warm against his hand. It was a pleasant sensation, even if he couldn’t understand exactly what it was. He decided to concentrate on it though, hoping that it would help him understand what was happening.

“Hux!” he recognized the voice calling his name, even if it felt coming from so far away. It was Ren, he was sure of that. And he wasn’t wearing his mask, since the sound wasn’t filtered by the voice modulator.

He tried to close and reopen his eyes a few times, and after several attempts he started to get accustomed to the light. His sight was still a little blurry, but he could see that he was in a bed in medbay, and that Ren was sitting on a chair by his side. Looking at the Knight, he soon realized what was the warm sensation he was feeling: Ren was holding his left hand, with a delicate yet firm grip. At first he thought about telling him to let go, but then he decided against it. It was actually fine, and he didn’t want that contact to end. It felt familiar and, somehow, just _right_. So instead of pulling away Hux gathered all of his strength in order to talk.

“Ren…” he whispered, his voice a little hoarse for lack of use “What happened?”

“You almost died, that’s what happened. I was so worried… you spent a week in a bacta tank, but now it seems you’re fine.” Ren replied, a sad smile on his plump lips.

It was so strange to hear the Knight say that he was worried about him. They’d been like real friends for several weeks, but sometimes it still felt unnatural to be so close. Especially considering that sometimes the two of them just _flirted_ , and Ren didn’t even seem to have noticed! Hux had no idea when exactly it had happened, but at some point he’d developed some feelings for that insufferable man-child, without even knowing why. Still, he actually cared about Ren, so he was glad to have him there holding his hand. For weeks he’d acted like he didn’t have any feelings for Ren because he thought it would have been better that way. But in that moment, tired and still a little sore, he didn’t care about hiding anything anymore.

“I remember being shot. And I remember you. Then nothing.” Hux decided to say after several seconds of silence “What happened after that? How did we survive?”

He was actually curious to know what exactly had happened after he’d lost consciousness. With him out of the equation, Ren had been alone. Yet he’d been able to survive and to even save him. Had General Organa decided to let them go because Ren was her son? Had the Knight just grabbed Hux and ran away? He looked at Ren, waiting for an answer, and he could see him hesitate. Was something wrong? Had something embarrassing happened to allow them to escape? Maybe something like his enforcer begging mommy to forgive him and let him go?

“I thought you died in my arms. I should have sensed through the Force that you were alive, but I just panicked and I couldn’t concentrate enough to sense anything.” Ren started to say, and Hux didn’t know _how_ he managed not to blush when he heard those words “Thinking that you were dead, I just lost my mind. I told General Organa that they were all going to die for what she did, and I actually meant it. I was so angry…”

The Knight paused, staring at the ceiling. Hux kept his eyes on Ren’s face, thinking that his embarrassment wasn’t something that should have been hidden. There was color on Ren’s cheeks, and it looked _good_. He actually liked it. But he wasn’t sure if saying something like that out loud would have made things easier between them or if it would have just complicated everything. Just to be sure, he remained in silence, waiting for Ren to keep on talking. It wasn’t long before the Knight resumed his tale, but without looking at Hux.

“I felt strong with the Force, stronger than ever before. I was one with the Dark Side, powered by hatred.” Ren’s gaze moved from the ceiling to the hand that was resting on his lap “And then I attacked them. Organa was the first one, and she was looking at me with such a terrified expression. I think that was the moment she realized her son was really gone. She was sure that freeing me from you would make me switch sides, but she was wrong, she only made things worse, and she paid for that mistake.”

Hux was really impressed. In the past, he’d always thought that Ren could have easily been a liability for his plans to rule the galaxy. Even after everything that they’d accomplished together, even after becoming friends, part of him had always feared that the Resistance could steal his enforcer away from him. But after hearing those words, he realized that he’d had nothing to fear in the first place. Ren was _his_ , his and no-one else’s. It had been stupid to doubt him at all.

“When I attacked Organa, Skywalker and the scavenger girl tried to stop me. But I used the Force to send them flying and it gave me the time to hit my target. I remember telling her to die, and I started to hit every part of her body I could reach with my lightsaber. But she didn’t die immediately, because at first I didn’t hit any vital organs. I cut off pieces of her arms and legs, and only then I pierced her heart and cut her in half. She was dead before the last piece of her hit the ground.” Ren said, and Hux was just mesmerized by those words. He could feel himself getting hard by thinking about the way his enforcer had dismembered his own mother.

“I’m so proud of you!” he said, squeezing Ren’s hand. Only then the Knight raised his head and the two of them locked their gazes. Ren’s eyes were red: the eyes of a Sith.

“After I killed her, everything got crazy and messy. Chewbacca attacked me with his bare hands, and I cut him twice, separating his body into three pieces. For years I thought I couldn’t do it, but I was so upset that the Dark Side gave me enough strength to sever any bonds I still had with my mother and Chewbacca. And by the time they were both dead, Skywalker and the scavenger were attacking me again. The girl said that I was a monster, and Skywalker said that I was unredeemable, that it was finally time for me to die. But I thought differently. _They_ were the monsters, all of them, and they all needed to die.” the Knight continued, and for a moment the Emperor held his breath.

“We started fighting, two against one. The other members of the Resistance had already scattered, running away in fear. They were probably looking for backup, so I knew I had to finish my battle before the arrival of more enemies. We started to duel, two against one. I realized that the scavenger had been trained, because she was better than the last time we fought. And Skywalker was a little out of shape, but still powerful. But I wasn’t afraid to die, somehow I _knew_ that I could do it. I knew that I could kill them both. I was confident, so the Force helped me.” at that point of Ren’s tale, Hux wasn’t sure if he was able to understand what exactly had happened. When the Knight talked about the Force as something with its own free will, he always got a little lost.

“I sank into the depths of the Dark Side, looking for more power. And then I remembered something that I’d learned from the holocron you gave me, something Snoke had used during our battle against him. So I blocked an attack from Skywalker with my lightsaber, using the cross-guard to cut off his hands with quick movements of my wrist. And at the same time I used my free hand to conjure dark lightning to hit the scavenger. She fell to the ground, screaming in agonizing pain. Skywalker couldn’t do anything to help her, he just stood there cursing me, powerless. You had to hear it Hux, it was heartwarming!” once again, all of the blood in Hux’s body started to flow towards a single direction. He was so aroused it hurt.

“The scavenger couldn’t move, she couldn’t resist my power. And after a couple of minutes she couldn’t even scream anymore. She just died a slow and painful death. The perfect payback for what she did to my face on _Starkiller_! And it was so good to see the sadness in Skywalker’s eyes. When I was Ben, he always looked at me like he was better than me. He used to patronize me because of my connection to the Dark Side, telling me that I had to get rid of it in order to become a true Jedi. But when I looked at what being a Jedi had done to him, I almost felt sorry for him. He really thought he was better than me, but in that moment he was just useless before me. I could have killed him with a single blow of my lightsaber. And so I did: I cut off his head and kicked it away. When I looked around, I was alone on the battlefield. Pieces of my enemies, _your_ enemies, were scattered all around, and it was beautiful. I just wished you could have been there to witness it with me. That’s when I scooped up your body and took you back to the _Finalizer_.” when he finished telling the story of what had happened to the Resistance, Ren went silent.

Hux could still feel Ren’s red eyes burning into him. Was he using the Force to add more intensity to that gaze? The Emperor couldn’t be sure about that. He was too weak to defend himself, after all, so it was possible that the Force was involved in whatever he was feeling.

“I’m sure I would have loved the sight of the battlefield. I really appreciate your killing style.” he said, allowing himself to smile a little. Ren blushed, but neither of them looked away.

“Thanks. But now that they’re dead, the Resistance is powerless. They’re all scared and the entire organization is in chaos. Now the Resistance is not a threat anymore. No-one will stand in the way of the First Order.” Ren commented, and then he lowered his voice to a whisper “No-one will stand in your way to dominance, _my Emperor_.”

The last few words kept repeating nonstop in Hux’s mind. They were giving him all sorts of thoughts and ideas. He started thinking about himself on a throne, the universe at his feet. It was overwhelming.

With some effort, the Emperor moved to sit up. In that moment, his heart was beating so fast that he thought his chest could just explode. It wasn’t easy, but he recognized that feeling as happiness. He couldn’t remember if he’d actually ever been that happy in his entire life. But for sure he was in pure bliss in that precise moment. He was alive, the galaxy was about to crumble at his feet. And above all, Ren was by his side.

Without even thinking about what he was doing, Hux used the hand that was still in Ren’s to pull the Knight towards him. Once he had him close enough, the Emperor raised his other hand and placed it on the back of his enforcer’s neck. He felt Ren shiver at the touch, and it gave him the courage to pull the Knight even closer, until their foreheads were touching. He never took his eyes away from Ren’s.

“Together, you and I shall rule the the entire universe. Forever.” he said, exhaling a low breath on Ren’s lips.

Then, he couldn’t understand who moved first. They probably leaned forward at the same time, crushing their mouths together in a passionate kiss. It tasted of hope and joy, it was warm and nice. Neither of them seemed willing to pull away from the other’s lips, so they kept eating each other voraciously, breathing into each other, for a very long time.

***

A month had passed since the day Hux had woken up in medbay, and he was proud to say he’d recovered perfectly from all of his injures. After a couple of weeks of bed rest, he’d been able to resume all of his duties as the Emperor. He’d been afraid of finding those weeks endless and boring, but it hadn’t been so. Ren had spent most of that time in bed with him, keeping him company and entertaining him in several other ways, most of which were inappropriate considering that he was still recovering.

Since they first kissed, the two of them had never been apart, not even for a single day. And in that moment they were still together, in Hux’s new throne room on the _Finalizer_. The room was located on the upper deck of the ship, and it had huge windows he could use to stare at the immensity of space. While looking at the stars outside, the Emperor could feel his skin twitch at the thought that every single system he could see was now under his control. With the death of General Organa and the last Jedi, what remained of the Resistance had quickly dispersed. That left the populations of every planet with no other choice than to bend their knees to the First Order.

On Hux’s right side, Ren was standing perfectly still. He was dressed in his usual black robes, and he had his mask on. He’d had a new one made for him by the time the Emperor was ready to leave medbay, and from that moment on he always wore it. Only Hux had the privilege to see his face, when they were alone in the Emperor’s quarters. Even if there was no-one else in the throne room with them, Hux knew better than to ask him to take off the mask. So he just sat there, looking at the universe outside, with his enforcer by his side.

Ren’s left hand was resting on his right shoulder in a gentle yet possessive way. Hux knew that the Master of the Knights of Ren was always going to be there for him, to help him and to protect him; to kill all of his enemies in a brutal way. Through the reflection on the window, he could see that Ren was looking in the same direction as he was. He felt a surge of affection, of _love_ , towards his enforcer. So the Emperor raised his own right hand and put in on top of Ren’s left. Even if he wasn’t able to see the Knight’s face, somehow he still knew that Ren was smiling behind his mask.

So they both just stayed there, looking outside the ship’s large windows and contemplating the extent of their power.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked my story, you can follow me on [tumblr](http://superellencaulfield.tumblr.com/) so we can talk about anything.  
> Also, this is the first part of a series that will include an 8 chapters sequel on Hux & Kylo and maybe a short story on Poe Dameron.


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